


Forbidden fruit

by ArcticSwan



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Don't Ask, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't tell, Forbidden Love, Full Metal - Freeform, Gay, Lovers, M/M, Secret Lovers, Trent & Full Metal, hiding from the team, m/m - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 23,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticSwan/pseuds/ArcticSwan
Summary: What if Trent and Full Metal were more than just best of friends?
Relationships: Trent Sawyer & Scott Carter
Comments: 84
Kudos: 122





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this was sparked by a tumblr post I came across. Incorrectsealteamcbs made this one:  
> Metal: Bro, if you have a crush on me please shoot your shot, you literally have no competition, I’m rooting for you even.  
> To which someone reblogged and wondered if it was just Metal calling EVERYONE ‘bro’, regardless of gender… -Or if he swings both ways.  
> -And then my brain…  
> *Sigh*
> 
> Also: posted this one here on AO3 a few days after ffnet. Because I already had a throw-away account on ffnet, and AO3 took a couple of days to create a new account. (Also, not the same nickname, just to make things confusing as F. FreakOfNature92 on ffnet.)

“Don’t you dare die on me, you jackass!” Trent growled as he shoved gauze down a gunshot wound near Metal’s left collar bone. He couldn’t know how bad it was, and Metal being unconscious didn’t help him at all. Or, it helped him a little, he didn’t fight against Trent’s hands packing his wound with as much gauze it would allow.

He wasn’t even sure of the reason Metal was unconscious. Was it blood loss, was it the bullet which had made a dent in his helmet? Some other reason he hadn’t noticed yet?

Satisfied he couldn’t get any more damn gauze into the wound, he focused on the rest of Metal.

The man was breathing better than he thought he had a right to with that hole in the front of his shoulder. He ran through his ABC’s as well as he could while they were barely shielded from heavy fire.

Everything he could judge from just touching, watching and listening irked him to get his hopes up. But he knew there was so much more which would be hidden to him when adrenaline was rushing through his system. Blood pressure and sats could be spiraling the drain, but that usually left some clues on the outside as well. Cold, clammy skin, blue tinted fingertips, lips and gums, difference in breathing. It had to show up somewhere. He didn’t see it. Was it because he was distracted? By the bullets flying overhead? By Full Metal?

He checked Metal’s pupils. They were of equal size and contracted once light hit them.

“Metal!” Trent rubbed his knuckles against Full Metal’s sternum, then he lowered his voice, “Scott, you know I can’t live without you…”

Through all the loud noise he heard it, a low and pained groan.

123123123

At first he didn’t understand much, then he reached up with the arm which didn’t feel like it had an electric pole jammed through near his shoulder and placed it on Trent’s shoulder. Not pushing away, but not pulling him closer either.

Trent jerked back, like someone had poked him with something red-hot.

“Thought I lost you.” Trent spoke barely above a whisper as he pulled away an inch.

“You kissed me…”

Trent looked away, unable to meet Metal’s eyes.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” Metal smirked a little.

“Yeah?”

“Bro…” he would have been surprised if his grin didn’t go all the way around, “If you have a crush on me; please shoot your shot, you literally have no competition, I’m rooting for you even.”

Trent leaned down another time, kissing him another time.

Metal reached up with his uninjured arm, pulling Trent closer. He could feel Trent smile against his lips, he smiled as well.

“Shit… We can’t do this…” Trent grimaced when he pulled away.

Metal shrugged his uninjured shoulder a bit, “Hey, don’t ask, don’t tell…”

“And how do you think we would be able to keep it secret from the team?”

Metal let his head fall back while thinking for a few seconds, “I could join a different team. We could play relationship on our free time.”

“Free time?” Trent chuckled, “Did you just go through BUDs or something? What free time are you talking about?”

Metal chuckled, then reached for his injured shoulder and groaned.

“Hey now… Take it easy…” Trent frowned and rubbed Metal’s side, “Easy.”

“We’re SEALs. We don’t do easy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, I decided this would be a random list of one-shots of their relationship. Some chapters might be time-stamped, some might not be. This probably won't be in chronological order.

[2003]

He grabbed the handset off his landline during the second ring, he was sitting right next to it after all. “Yeah, hello. This is Scott.”

“Hey handsome.” A familiar voice replied at the other end of the line.

“Hey T.” he felt a smile spread across his face.

“I’m about to start making some homemade pizza.” Trent informed, “Want to come over? We could watch the Cardinals-Broncos game tonight. -Or, you know… At least have it on.”

“Aw, I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Aren’t you just home from a spin-up? You left the evening before yesterday, they’re not sending you out again, are they?”

“Yeah, came home this morning… And no, they’re not sending us on another spin up already.”

“I would believe just about anyone else if they said they were to tired to meet up after that, but I know you’ll come over no matter how sleep deprived you are.” He could hear the frown in Trent’s voice, he guessed Trent was figuring out something was wrong, “You’re lucky it’s pretty hard to damage my ego.”

Metal chuckled a bit, “I’d really love to come over, but I broke something in my leg tonight, or last night… -About 1 a.m., the night leading up to this day. I’m a little jet-lagged or something, got my days jumbled up.”

“Aw man, are you okay?”

Metal shrugged, “It’s not the worst break I’ve ever had… But the doctor ordered rest and elevation, so that’s what I’m doing. And I’m not gonna drive for at least a couple of weeks, some people handle speeding with their left without any problems. I’m a traffic hazard when I do.”

“You want me to come over instead?” Trent offered up, “I’ll bring some pizza, and we can relax together?”

“That would be awesome.” Metal grinned to himself, “See you later then?”

“Yeah.” Trent replied, “Looking forward to it.”

123123123

He put the key in the lock before he knocked, letting Metal know that he didn’t have to get up to come open for him. A few seconds later he was inside the apartment.

“I figured homemade pizza is best when it’s fresh, not after a twenty-plus minute drive…” he explained as he carried a bowl and a bag with some stuff over to the counter, “Figured I could brown the minced meat, assemble and bake the pizza here.”

“Nice!” Metal grinned back.

Then Trent turned to actually face him, “How are you doing?”

Metal shrugged, then offered up a pout, “My ankle hurts. A little banged up all over, other than that, good. Even better now that you’re here.”

Trent nodded a little, “You get some sleep after the spin up?”

“Yeah, slept like a rock on the plane home.”

“Even with a broken ankle?”

Metal chuckled, “Yeah, I was dog-tired.”

“How did you break your ankle?” Trent asked as he started finding the stuff he needed to prepare the rest of the pizza in Metal’s kitchen.

“Skiing.” Metal rubbed at his knee, “We were going downhill, following someone who obviously knew the terrain. Not really sure what happened, but suddenly I was cartwheeling down the slope. Think my right ski might’ve caught on something.”

“And your knee? You’re massaging it?”

“A little swollen.” Metal shrugged, “That’s it.”

“And the doctor agreed with you about that?”

“Nothing showed up on the X-rays and my knee was stable and didn’t hurt more when he did those bend and twist tests with my knee.”

“That’s good.”

Metal nodded.

“What kind of break was it?”

“Just…” Metal shrugged, “A simple fracture I guess.”

“So, a stable fracture? Didn’t have to set it?”

Metal frowned, “No, it was a little displaced, so they set it. Going back next week to make sure it stays where it should and that I don’t need surgery.”

Trent nodded and walked over to where Metal had his right leg rested on a pillow on the living room table, and hunched back on his heels, “That’s a big and clunky cast they put you in.”

Metal nodded, “Yeah. My ankle was really swollen by the time I made it to a hospital. But the cast feels good.”

“Well, at least that’s something…” Trent sighed and took a second look at Metal’s casted leg, “You call that elevated?”

Metal shrugged a little, “My body was tired, alright? I didn’t want to hop around the entire apartment for a few extra pillows.”

“Let’s fix you something better to elevate your leg with, okay?” Trent winked and placed a hand on Metal’s thigh, Metal in turn placed his and on top of Trent’s.

Something in Metal’s expression pulled him towards him. He stood up a little, placed his left hand behind Metal’s neck, kissed him. His breath hitched when Metal pulled him closer by hooking a finger in one of his belt loops.

He pulled away a little, and was rewarded with Metal’s teasing smirk.

“Damn, I love you, you idiot.” Trent chuckled and went back in for a short kiss.

Once they broke apart once more, Metal’s smirk was even more obvious, “I know.”

Trent laughed a bit.

“I love you too.” Metal smiled back.

They were just about to go for another kiss when there were three sharp knocks at the door, “Ey! Metal! If you’re home, I’ve got a sixer for each of us!”

“Dammit, Jackson.” Metal mouthed soundlessly.

Trent grimaced a little.

“Can we ignore him?” Metal mouthed.

“Does he have a key?” Trent asked just as soundlessly.

Metal nodded.

“Then that’s a nope.”

“YEAH! GIMME A MINUTE!” Metal leaned sideways not to shout directly at Trent.

Trent placed a hasty kiss near his jaw, before he stood up and jogged over to the bedroom to find some pillows for Metal’s leg, and to have an excuse for not being at the door straight away. “NO! JUST SIT, I’LL GET IT!”

123123123

“Trent? Man, it’s been too long.” Jackson grinned as the door opened.

Trent nodded, and raised the hand with the pillows, “Sure has. I was just scurrying for some pillows Metal can elevate his leg with. He’s not exactly the best patient I know.”

Jackson chuckled, “Are any SEAL?”

“Honestly, no.” Trent chuckled and tossed a glance over his shoulder at Metal, “But that one sure isn’t the best of them.”

“Hey, this patient can still hear you!” Metal tossed his hands up in a ‘why’ gesture.

Trent smirked.

“You’re making food?” Jackson asked as he looked over at the kitchen corner of the apartment.

“Yeah, was about to prep some pizza.” Trent nodded, “But then the medic in me took over.”

“Anything I can help with?”

Trent shrugged a little as he started stepping towards Metal so he could lift his leg some more, “I don’t know, either chop some onions or cook that minced meat. Could you do that? Without needing stitches or burning down the place?”

“Uh-no!” Metal shook his head, “He’s a walking fire-hazard!”

Jackson chuckled, “I’ll chop some onions. Relax Metal!”


	3. Chapter 3

[2023]

  
He never slept better than he did right there. With Trent's head on his arm, or his head on Trent's arm if that was how they happened to fall asleep.

He woke up first, he often did. He didn’t plan on moving anytime soon. He loved moments like these.

Trent was still breathing slowly on his arm, still sleeping quietly. Those nights were the absolute best. When they both got the peaceful rest they needed.

Even though he knew it was unlikely, given their occupation, he hoped he would be able to grow old together with the man on his arm. Matching rocking chairs, a wrap around porch, a couple of dogs. He dreamt of that.

But they were both middle aged men in a profession where the life expectancy was far lower than for the rest of the population. And neither of them knew how to quit.

But dreams were still good to have. 


	4. Chapter 4

[2017/2018]

  
“Trent, how long are you gonna let that hair of yours get?” Sonny teased as he chanced ruffling the slightly older man’s hair.

His hand was quickly swatted away, “Quit it.”

“I’m serious.” Sonny smirked as he sat down in the opposite end of the couch, “Someone who’s been down range for too long might get you mixed up with one of the ladies.”

“It’s practical…” Trent shrugged.

“For what?” Sonny chuckled, “Getting’ your hair pulled during sex? Sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but I think the only woman on this base who likes long hair on their sex partner is sergeant Ruiz. And I really doubt you’re her type.”

“Let me guess, too much facial hair.” Brock smirked.

Sonny nodded, “And not enough boobs.”

“Who knows, maybe he’s got a secret girl back home…” Clay smirked, “Nah… Can’t see it.”

Trent shrugged nonchalantly, “Well, maybe I do…”

“What do you say Metal? Does he?”

The entire team turned to look towards Metal, who had been minding his own business up until then, when he started coughing. And continued coughing, and slamming his fist against his chest in order to knock what he was choking at loose.

“You good there?” Sonny frowned as he eyed Metal.

Metal held up a finger as he continued coughing and hitting his chest.

“Coke?” Ray asked as he held a can in front of Metal.

Metal nodded, grabbed it, cracked it and took a good long sip. Then he coughed a couple more times, took another sip and was good. “What are you trying to do Clay? Kill me? I almost choked on my spit.”

He lightened the last part up with a careful chuckle and took another sip.

“You good?” Trent chuckled, looking at Metal.

“I’ll survive.” Metal nodded and rubbed at his chest, “Kid, why would I know anything about who Trent pokes his stick into?”

“Figured you were best buddies…” Clay shrugged, “If anyone knows, it would be you.”

“Call me old-fashioned, but I try to make a point of knowing a little as possible about my apparently best buddy’s sex life.” Metal chuckled, “For all I know, he could have someone. Not that I’ve heard of a girl, or seen one around.”

Trent was barely able to hide his smirk. His hair had sometimes been used for just that, pulling. Not because Metal was a big fan of it, but he liked getting his hair pulled to some degree.

“Alright, I’ll try to make a point of seeing some shears when I get back home.”

Metal smirked, “Bet we could find a machine to do it here.”

Trent shook his head, “No. Not trusting any of you with my hair. I don’t pull off a clean shaven head.”

Jason chuckled, “Yeah, you really don’t.”


	5. Chapter 5

[Mid-late 2000s]

He felt sick to his stomach as he entered the hospital room and saw the love of his life that broken.

The love of his life laid looking out the window, he had a hospital gown on his left arm, but the right sleeve was just tucked in at his side. His right arm was carefully placed on top of a bunch of pillows. It was covered in bandages from his wrist and almost to his shoulder, and there were metal rods poking out from the bandages, connected by other metal rods. The hand of his right arm was discolored and swollen, so was his shoulder. His gaze looked distant, even though Metal couldn’t see his eyes from where he was.

“Shitty weather, right?” he swallowed hard as he pulled a chair over next to Trent’s bed. He didn’t know what to say, for once conversation with Trent wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.

Trent didn’t answer.

Metal felt like crying, but that wouldn’t help Trent any. “T. Is it okay if I touch your left hand?”

Trent didn’t look away from the window, didn’t say anything, didn’t nod or shake his head. What he did on the other hand was twist his left hand with his palm facing up. A silent invitation of sorts.

“Is your left arm hurt in any way?” Metal asked as he carefully held Trent’s hand.

Trent shook his head, but just a fraction.

“Want to tell me what happened?”

Trent shook his head again, his eyes still set on a point a few miles outside his window.

Metal nodded a little, he doubted he would have wanted to talk about it if the roles were reversed.

The tears finally won out, Metal didn’t care about wiping them away. Holding on to Trent’s left hand with both of his were much more important.

After sitting like that for what felt like an eternity, he gently lifted Trent’s hand with his. Worried that Trent’s left arm was hurt even though he claimed it wasn’t . Trent was still looking out the window with a thousand yard stare.

He pressed Trent’s hand to his lips, salty tears streaming silently down his cheeks.

Next time he looked up he was looking straight into tear-rimmed hazel eyes.

“Hey…” he choked out, “You scared me.”

“Don’t…” Trent sniffled, and it damn near broke Metal’s heart, “Don’t leave me.”

It felt like someone had switched off all his muscles, the sheer pain of the thought that Trent worried about him leaving, especially when he was hurt.

“I won’t.” Metal whispered back, trying to keep his voice from cracking, “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Promise?”

“You want me to get down on one knee?” Metal winked, even though he still had tears falling from his eyes, “I’ll get down on one knee. Might have to figure out what to do about work and our brothers, but… I want you. That’s not gonna change.”

123123123

Jason was glad he had come alone. He had entered the room after knocking carefully on the door, but he had not been prepared to see what he saw.

“Shhh… He just fell asleep…” Metal almost choked out, “He was exhausted.”

The red, puffy eyes and the way Metal held Trent’s good hand like his life depended on it put him out of commission for a short minute.

“-You?”

Metal swallowed hard, before he answered in a raspy voice, evidence that he had cried a lot that day, “Don’t tell.”

Jason shook his head a little as he stepped over to the foot end of the bed, “This is why you jumped teams?”

“-Don’t tell.” Metal’s voice held a warning Jason didn’t want to experience as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

Jason nodded, “I wouldn’t rid SEAL of two of its finest operators. I won’t tell.”

“Thanks.” Metal almost whispered back, before he sniffed a bit.

“How long?” Jason asked, eyeing the way Metal held Trent’s hand.

“2001.” Metal rubbed one of his thumbs gently against the back of one of Trent’s fingers, “Tried to make it work on the same team for a while.”

Jason nodded.

“I almost thought I’d lost him.” Metal took a deep breath before he looked over at Jason, “I’ve never been scared like this before.”

Jason nodded a little, “Hey, I’ve got an idea… I’ll text the rest of Bravo team, say Trent’s tired and visits will have to wait until tomorrow. Does that sound good to you?”

Metal nodded a little and looked over at his partner. “Wouldn’t be a lie, that’s for sure.”

Jason gave Metal a good pat on the shoulder.

“Stay, please.” Metal requested when Jason was about to head towards the door, “I need to talk to you, fresh Alpha-1 to fresh Bravo-1…”

Jason nodded a little and leaned against the wall.

“I’m shipping out in two weeks.” Metal informed, trapping his lower lip between his teeth.

Jason nodded a little.

“I feel I need to be here. Take care of him.” Metal took a shaky breath, “Any ideas?”

“I could be your proxy.” Jason shrugged, “I could either take your spot on the tour, say you twist your ankle pretty bad or something… Or, I could keep an eye on Trent.”

Metal blew some air out in a way which sounded like laughter, “Since when did any of us stay home for a twisted ankle…”

Jason shook his head as he slowly glided down the wall. Soon enough he was sitting hunched back on his heels against the wall. He got his phone out and started typing, then he put it away.

“There, text sent. You don’t have to worry about anyone else showing up today.”

“Thanks.”

Jason nodded.

Metal pressed his lips against Trent’s hand once more, it no longer mattered if Jason saw this side of them.

“Can you promise me you’ll take care of him while I’m overseas?”

Jason nodded.

“Try to pull his head out of that dark pit it might…” Metal grimaced as if his own head suddenly hurt, “Promise to try and make him see that there’s… It’s not the end, okay?”

“Yeah…” Jason nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.” Metal nodded, “Bro, I don’t know how I’m gonna survive this deployment…”

“You’ll get through it.” Jason sighed, “It’ll be over before you know it, and when you’re back, he’ll probably feel a bit better as well.”

Metal nodded, “Feels wrong knowing I’m gonna leave him while he’s like this, even if it’s just for a few months.”

“He’ll understand.”

Metal nodded, another set of tears threatening to roll from his eyes, “I’m just wondering if my heart will understand…”

Jason nodded in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

They sat around the firepit at Bagram air base. It was a quiet night after a few hectic days which had bled into each other.

Bravo and Charlie team were there at the same time. Which meant that they all had to suffer through Thirty-Mike’s unreliable stories.

All of Bravo team were banged up to some degree.

Jason pressed a cold compress against his elbow. Ray leaned on his left armrest, his back had gotten some unwelcomed beating during a fall. Sonny was performing redneck first aid to his bruised right hand by having it wrapped around a cold one.

Trent felt low grade bruised all over. His right shoulder being the worst, but it was just like a pulled muscle, nothing he couldn’t handle.

Brock’s left eye was swelled shut, and the bruising was painting the area dark purple.

Clay had required a few stitches.

And Metal had ended up limping pretty obviously after stepping in a pit.

123123123

Trent had kept an eye on Metal since he first had noticed the limping.

After they had gotten back to base, he had noticed the limping getting worse. After they sat down at the firepit, he had seen Metal shifting in his seat a few times, before he eventually loosened up the laces of his right boot. Then when that wasn’t enough anymore, he started shifting around in his seat once more.

“If your ankle feels swollen, you should probably elevate it…” he shrugged as he met Metal’s eyes.

“Not too bad…” Metal shrugged before twisting off the cap of the bottle he used to spit in when it would annoy other people if he just spit on the ground.

Trent rolled his eyes, “You stubborn jackass…”

A brief smile flashed across Metal’s lips. Ever since their first moment of being a couple, that term had become one of endearment.

“Come on now, I’m getting tired of seeing you search for a less bothersome position to hold your leg in…” Trent sighed as he leaned forward and grabbed a hold of the fabric covering Metal’s lower leg, a second later he had positioned his boyfriend’s ankle and lower leg across his own lap.

“Bro, I’m good…” Metal frowned a bit, “You don’t have to…”

“Just shut up and drink your beer…” Trent chuckled as he placed his left hand on top of Metal’s leg.

“I swear, the two of you sound like an old married couple…” Thirty-Mike chuckled.

Most of the other guys chuckled a bit as well.

Trent took a sip of his own beer before he replied, “You guys try being the medic for people who don’t know their own best interest…”

The Charlie team medic glared over at Charlie-5 for a brief second, then nodded. “Man, I know where you’re coming from.”

123123123

Time had crawled around to the small hours of the night, and everyone but Jason, Metal and Trent had turned in for the night.

“You know, you can be open about it now…” Jason shrugged after tossing another log into the firepit, “No one can bump you off the teams for it anymore. The policies changed, what, nine years ago?”

“Policy might’ve changed…” Metal nodded and looked over at Trent before looking back at Jason, “But there are still people out there who wouldn’t like to know that the people they’re bunking with likes this and that.”

“On our team?” Jason furrowed his brows.

“No. Not our…” Trent shook his head and let his hand glide up and down Metal’s shin, “But it’s probably still safest to keep quiet about it. Besides, it’s a nice secret to have.”

Metal smiled, “Yeah. I like it too. No one questions it when we need some space from each other.”

Trent chuckled, “You’re still lucky my ego is hard to damage, you know that?”

Metal chuckled, “Yeah, I do have my antisocial caveman moments. I know those probably suck to be on the receiving end of.”

Trent took a slow breath, “No… I know that’s just something you need, it’s not got anything to do about me.”

“Yeah…” Metal nodded, “Still makes me feel a bit guilty from time to time.”

“Nah, don’t be.” Trent winked back, “Means I don’t have to fight you for the covers. That’s nice as well.”

Jason chuckled, “Ever heard of having two duvets?”

“He’ll steal both…” Trent rolled his eyes as he jerked his thumb towards Metal.

“You know what, somehow I have no problem believing that.”

Metal shrugged, “I’m usually asleep when I do so…”

Trent chuckled, before looking towards Metal’s foot. He had taken the boot off for him a couple of hours ago, and the swelling of his ankle as pretty bad.

“It ain’t that bad…”

Trent looked back up at him, “It’s swollen as heck.”

“I walked around on it for at least eight hours before we got back to base. I didn’t exactly sit still when we got here either, not before the debrief, unpacking, going to the mess hall to get some grub… I still have to take a shower, or Brock will probably drop kick me if I even plan on going to sleep before washing the four-day mission stank off myself.”

“You’re pretty ripe…” Trent nodded with a soft grimace, “I’ll admit that.”

“I can smell myself, I know…” Metal frowned.

Trent let his left hand glide a little closer towards Metal’s ankle, and his right brushed up against the sole of his foot. A slight pressure from his right hand caused Metal to pull his leg towards himself with a hiss.

“You think you’re going to be able to walk anywhere?” Trent tilted his head as he guided Metal’s leg back across his lap with his left hand.

“I wasn’t prepared, alright.”

“Want me to do it again?”

“No.” Metal scowled. “I promise, it’s just bruised and swollen…”

“-If you say so…” Trent shrugged, “But I still think you’re gonna have some problems moving around without crutches or help. It’s probably stiffened up a lot over the last couple of hours.”

Metal nodded a little, “-You might be right about that…”

“I could go find some crutches for you.” Jason offered, “And some less ripe clothes you can change into…”

“Yes, please… Find both…” Trent chuckled.

“You know, if I get a pair of crutches, I’m perfectly able to find clean clothes on my own.” Metal shrugged.

“Yeah, but you won’t exactly be in stealth-mode, and Brock doesn’t sleep like a log.” Trent chuckled.

“Okay, fair.”


	7. Chapter 7

He looked down at Metal fast asleep against his chest. He looked years younger in his sleep.

Sometimes it happened that they got lucky on the Gucci deployments or on spin ups in big cities. Like right this second.

They were staying at this tiny family owned hotel, the team was split into double rooms. And thanks to either luck or Jason having a say in who shared rooms, they had ended up sharing the same room.

He let one hand travel up to brush some of Metal’s hair away from his forehead. He was about due for a haircut unless he wanted to try longer hair for once.

Trent almost laughed at the thought.

Metal pulled himself closer to him in his sleep, and rubbed his face against Trent’s chest.

He knew he would be a happy man, as long as he was able to wake up to his best friend and boyfriend just like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so… I was considering making a chapter of how one of them is forced to quit due to an injury. Any suggestions? A bad limb fracture which just doesn’t heal right? GSW to the torso, leaving him in a lot of pain or with medical needs which just doesn’t correlate with being a Tier-One operator? Traumatic amputation, or amputation because of a GSW or bad fracture to a limb? Spinal cord injury? Just too much general wear and tear?  
> Also, haven’t quite decided which of them would be on the receiving end of that injury.  
> I might have a plan, but it would be nice to hear your take on it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this and the next chapter will be linked together.

[Sometime between 2024 & 2027?]

One second he was sprinting towards the cover of a building with his brothers, the next he had a face full of dirt and his life was changed.

He even tried crawling a couple of feet before his brain caught up to what had just happened. At first he had been running, then his right leg had disappeared from where it should land, next thing he knew he crashed to the ground without even being able to catch his fall.

It first started hurting right about the same time someone grabbed a hold of his tac-vest and started pulling him to safety at a running pace.

He tested about every cussword he could think of as he tried being somewhat useful and fire in the direction they were taking fire from.

123123123

Everything was happening faster than what he was able to keep track of. Once they got inside the relative safety of the building, he lowered his weapon. He looked up and saw Sonny and Ray’s horrified expressions.

At the same time, he felt a weight press down near his hip. He looked over and saw Trent sitting with one knee hard against the base of his thigh, his hands were shaking and grappling a tourniquet.

He tried moving, but that proved to be a serious mistake on his part. The pain stemming from his knee or whatever seemed to quadruple in intensity.

“Ow, you’re heavy…”

“Lay still!” Trent barked at him. It was more of an order than anything else, “Shit! Fuck! Clay fix this!”

He saw the tourniquet being passed from Trent’s hands and over to Clay’s. Bravo-6’s hands weren’t shaking as much, so he managed to get the tourniquet ready for application.

“Here…” Clay announced quietly as he held it out in front of Trent, “Want me to put it on as well?”

“Yeah.” Trent nodded, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t move too much before it’s on…”

“How is he?” Jason called out from one of the windows.

“Looks like a through and through, right leg, near the knee.” Trent replied, his voice was shaking, “Bleeds a lot. Applying TQ now!”

123123123

His heart was breaking with each pained grunt and whimper coming from Metal, the struggling under his knee didn’t make it any easier for him to take.

“It hurts!” Metal panted, “OW! FUCK MAN, IT HURTS!”

“I know…” Trent winced in sympathy and tried digging through his pocket for one of his morphine autoinjectors. He popped off the safety catch, wrapped his hand around it without blocking either of the ends, then he pressed the end the needle would shoot out of against the thigh of Metal’s healthy leg. “It’ll hurt less soon.”

He didn’t like knowing that his knee was the only thing slowing the amount of blood spurting out of the wound Metal had. It definitely was an arterial bleed, not the smallest he had seen either. But his knee pressed against Metal’s femoral artery like a makeshift junctional was good enough to avoid having a blood fountain pulsing out of the open crater in his knee until the tourniquet was on.

Metal was squirming under his knee. He heard him cry out, scream, cuss. At the edge of his field of vision, he saw Metal slamming his fist against the floor, anything to distract himself from his leg.

“Shhh-shhh-shhh… I know it hurts…” he said as he rubbed a hand against Metal’s opposite hip, “You’re going to be alright.”

Then when he was sure Clay had tightened the tourniquet enough, he removed his knee from Metal’s groin.

Metal was going to be alright. He would live. He just didn’t know if _he_ was going to be alright himself.

The loud cries of pain died down to subdued whimpers and sobs.

Trent looked around quickly as he moved to comfort Metal, first then he realized half of the team was missing from the room.

“I sent Sonny, Brock and Ray off to take up positions. Figured you maybe could use me and Clay for help if you needed it.” Jason shrugged as Trent looked over at him.

He shook his head a little, “No, I think I just need to keep an eye on him now. Not much we can do about that wound.”

Jason nodded.

“I have to stay here.” Trent swallowed.

Jason nodded with a short wink, “Yeah, he just got morphine… Got to monitor.”

Trent nodded and looked down at Metal crying on the ground, “Think I’m gonna give him some more as well.”

Jason nodded a little, “You need someone here to help you or to stand guard in case anyone enters from this direction?”

Trent thought a little before he shook his head, “No, I’ve got my handgun. I think we’ll be okay.”

Jason nodded a little, “Let us know if anything changes?”

Trent nodded as he started finding the second auto injector, “I will…”

123123123

“Oh shit…” Sonny drawled as he entered the room they had left Trent and Metal in earlier.

Trent shot up, with mild terror in his eyes.

“Is he?” the word ‘dead’ hung in the air.

“No, still alive.” Metal grit out.

Sonny blinked a few times as his index finger moved from Metal to Trent and back multiple times, “I could’ve sworn it looked like you were doing some resuscitation stuff… Wait, are you two…?”

Trent nodded a little, his cheeks turning bright pink, Metal did his best to offer up a smile.

Sonny shrugged a bit, “Kinda makes sense actually…”

A smile passed Trent’s lips.

“Shit, I almost forgot why I came down here…” Sonny cleared his voice, “You got spare mags? We’re pretty damn close to Winchester up there…”

Metal nodded a little and plucked his spare mags off his vest, “Here you go. I don’t think I’ll be a proficient shot right now anyway.”

“No, you’re too drugged up…” Trent almost chuckled a little and brushed a hand over Metal’s hair, “You can have most of mine as well.”

Metal pulled a deep breath, “Fuck… My leg hurts…”

“I know…” Trent nodded and wiped away one of the wet trails leading from Metal’s eyes.

“Hasn’t it been more than 15 minutes now?” Metal grimaced, “Isn’t it time to loosen the tourniquet to not kill off the circulation?”

Trent shook his head a little, “I think we’re just going to keep as much blood inside you as possible…”

Metal frowned as Sonny moved to pick up the magazines he had placed beside him, “Is it that bad?”

“Sure ain’t good…” Sonny offered up an apologetic look.

“T…” Metal swallowed hard before he met Trent’s eyes, “How bad?”

Trent shook his head a little, “Do you want the short or the long answer?”

“Short.”

“There’s too much damage. You’re going to lose the leg.”

“Can I see…”

“I wouldn’t advice it…” Sonny shot in, he had momentarily forgotten about his ammo mission.

“Is it nasty?”

“Yup.” Sonny nodded.

“It’s…” Trent frowned, “I think I would’ve wanted to wait until I only had a scar left, and then could see pictures of it.”

“Where’s the entrance?”

“Low in the front, a little towards your midline.” Trent swallowed.

“Exit?”

“Look, Metal…” Sonny shook his head, “I don’t think they used normal bullets.”

“-What?”

“The whole back of your knee is…” Trent shook his head as well, “Looks like they used dum-dums.”

Metal looked over at Sonny, who nodded.

“We’ll make sure there are pictures for you to see later if you want to…” Sonny shrugged, “But do yourself a favor, not now.”

“Okay…” Metal nodded a little before he looked back at Trent, “Don’t…”

“-I won’t leave you…” Trent winked back.

Metal nodded a little and another great flood of tears started up.

Sonny wiped at his own eyes for a brief second, before waving one of the mags so Trent would see, then he pointed towards the stairs.

Trent nodded a little before he returned his full focus to Metal.


	9. Chapter 9

“How are you feeling?

Metal tried focusing his eyes on Trent, but pretty soon realized it was in vain, “Like they’ve got me on some hella good stuff.”

Trent chuckled a bit, “But you’re not in too much pain?”

Metal shook his head a little, “Not at all.”

“That’s good.”

Metal nodded a little.

“The guys wanted to know if you wanted visitors…”

Metal shook his head a little, “Later. Tomorrow.”

Trent nodded, “I’ll let them know.”

Metal nodded again, “But if you want to, you can stay.”

“I was planning on that.”

123123123

The next day Trent asked the same question, and got a different answer from a more sober-looking Metal.

Before he went to tell the others Metal stopped him.

“Yeah?”

“We should… There’s a thing we might have to decide first.”

Trent tilted his head sideways as he stepped back beside Metal’s bed, “Yeah?”

“Jase knows. Sonny knows.” Metal shrugged, “How about we just… Start being open about this?”

“You want that?”

“I’m okay with it.” Metal shrugged. “Still not gonna kiss you in public, that’s just not me.”

Trent chuckled a bit, “Well, except for that one time a few years ago… I would never have assumed that either. You sure about this?”

“Feels dumb to keep it secret any longer. Half of the rest of the team knows. We’re obviously not going on deployments or spin ups together, ever again…” Metal cast a glance to where his stump was elevated under the covers, “Someone else has to be Alpha-1, permanently. Things are gonna be easier if we just tell them.”

Trent nodded, brushed a hand over Metal’s greying hair and leaned down to press a kiss against his forehead.

“Hey, no fair…” Metal chuckled, “I want a real one.”

“A real what?”

“You know exactly what…” Metal rolled his eyes a little, “-Jackass…”

Trent chuckled a bit and leaned down to place a kiss on Metal’s lips, Metal’s right hand hooked around the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

“Marry me?” Metal asked after he let Trent pull away from the kiss.

“What?”

“I didn’t stutter.” Metal shook his head, “Will you marry me?”

Trent nodded a little, “I want to… But ask me again when you’re sober, okay? The answer will be yes.”

Metal nodded a little, “So now you’re kinda my fiancé?”

“Kinda…” Trent winked, “Unofficially.”

“I’m cool with that.” Metal grinned, “Dibs on having Jase as my best man.”

Trent chuckled, “Okay, I’ll let you get to have him…”

Metal smirked, then he took a deep breath, “I think I’m ready for the other guys now.”

“I’ll go get them, then we’ll tell them about us.”

Metal nodded, “I love you.”

“I know.” Trent winked back.

Metal rolled his eyes a little, and chuckled.

123123123

There was a weird feeling in the room when the rest of the team entered. It was like everyone was walking on eggshells. Like most of them expected any wrong move to make Metal start crying or something.

“Hey man, how are you holding up?” Jason bumped his fist against Metal’s as he got close enough.

“Don’t think it’s really hit me yet…” Metal shrugged.

“-Well, it definitely hit your knee…” Sonny shot in, his voice as dry as it would go.

Metal tried to hold it back for about a second and a half, but then he broke out laughing, “Definitely did.”

And with that, the uncomfortable tension disappeared.

“How does it feel?” Brock asked nodding at where what was left of Metal’s right leg was elevated.

“Right now, it doesn’t feel like anything…” Metal shrugged, “Still not sure if I’m just lucky or if they have done something to make sure it doesn’t hurt yet…”

“Here’s to hoping you’re one of the lucky ones…” Trent shrugged.

Metal nodded a little, “It’s weird that it doesn’t hurt at all right now. I mean, I was almost sure the pain itself would kill me when it happened.”

Clay frowned, he was pretty sure it was impossible to imagine that kind of pain correctly.

Trent took a slow, deep, breath. “Hey, bet you’re learning how to walk with a temporary prosthetic by the time our deployment is over…”

“Three months?” Metal shrugged, “Bet I’ll be able to walk without a walker…”

Sonny chuckled a bit, “So, what’s the prize?”

Metal shrugged a bit, “Why don’t we really make it interesting, homemade dinner? How about that?”

Trent shrugged, and nodded.

123123123

They had chatted about everything and anything for a while. Then the two of them silently agreed that it was time to tell the rest of the team as well.

“Hey, uhm… Guys…” Metal shifted a bit in his bed, “There’s something I, we, should probably have told you years ago…”

Both Metal and Trent caught the smiles of Jason and Sonny.

Brock, Ray and Clay looked utterly confused though.

“We?” Brock repeated with a questioning look on his face.

“We.” Trent nodded.

Brock wasn’t able to process the miniature clue

Ray frowned in confusion for a second, before a grin spread across his face.

And Clay simply snapped his fingers and let his index finger trace between the two, “I knew it.”

“What?” Brock looked over at Clay, confusion painted across his face.

“We should…” Metal swallowed a bit, “Alright, two of you already know… But we should have let the rest of you know as well…”

Trent nodded along.

“Trent and I, we’ve… We’re a couple, alright?”

“You are?” Brock tilted his head, “For real?”

Trent chuckled, “Yeah, been so for a little while…”

“That’s the understatement of the year…” Jason chuckled.

Metal chuckled as well, “Yeah, twenty plus years is more than a little while…”

“Wait? That long?” Clay’s eyes went wide.

Trent nodded, and looked to Metal, “Yeah, 2002?”

Metal nodded a little, “2002, March.”

Trent nodded.

“I’m… I’m happy for you.” Ray smiled, “I would have liked to know this secret like a decade ago, but… I’m happy for you.”

“Yeah, sorry about that…” Metal shrugged, “My bad, mostly.”

Trent shook his head, “I wasn’t ready to tell either.”

“Does anyone on Alpha know?”

Metal shook his head, “No. Derek might assume something. The others should be completely in the dark. Especially Frankie and Dylan.”

“Jackson probably knew.” Trent chuckled.

“Yeah.” Metal chuckled a bit, “He knew.”

“Man, I miss that guy…” Jason sighed.

Metal nodded, “He was a great 2IC. Derek is as well, but…”

“Jackson was Jackson…” Trent shrugged.

“Look, the reason we’ve kept this to ourselves up until now…” Metal swallowed, “It was never because of you guys. Trent trusts you, I trust you. We know we could have told you and none of you would have looked at us any different.”

Jason nodded silently from the corner and winked at Metal who tried to get his message through.

“Reason was always my team, Alpha team.” Metal sighed, “Most of the team would probably be cool about it, but…”

“Frankie and Dylan?” Sonny frowned.

Trent nodded a little.

“But, they’re on you team…” Brock frowned, “Why didn’t you just bump them over to another team?”

“Even though they are narrow-minded, they are still great soldiers, who work well with the rest of Alpha.” Metal shrugged, “As a team leader, I valued that over being able to be public about a personal relationship. Besides, we had already been together for years when we finally could step forward about it without potentially being kicked out of the Navy all together.”

Trent chuckled, “We were definitely over the ‘everything is NEW and exciting’ phase.”

Metal nodded.

“So, who knew this already?” Brock asked, “On this team.”

Jason and Sonny raised their hands a little.

“You knew?” Clay raised his eyebrows questioningly at Sonny, “Really?”

“Only since…” Sonny nodded towards Metal’s missing leg, “When I went down to ask for spare ammo.”

Ray chuckled, “Yeah, you spent a bit more time doing that than what we had expected.”

“You should’ve heard the words coming out of Ray at one point there…” Brock chuckled, “Didn’t sound very Christian in that moment.”

“Well, I was WINCHESTER, big ol’ capital letters. Everything was empty, I didn’t even have a pebble to toss anyone’s way.” Ray shrugged.

Jason chuckled, “We all got lucky, in one way.”

Metal nodded a little. He had imagined the day he had to quit the teams since the start of his career, he guessed most guys did. He had never really figured he’d survive that day, so many others didn’t. But there he was, almost 48 hours after, and he felt sorta okay. He didn’t look forward to life after SEAL, but he figured he’d be alright.

Maybe it was the knowledge that his brothers would be there for him, maybe it was because he had a challenge to complete. He didn’t know.

His entire adult life, he had always been reaching for something. Maybe that was the way to survive a medical discharge? Set goals, reach for them, never quit?

“So, Clay…” Sonny chuckled, “You knew it?”

Clay shrugged, “I had a theory…”

“Yeah?” Brock crossed his arms over his chest, “How? Why?”

“There’s lots of small stuff, alright?” Clay shrugged, “Like, Trent’s hands… I’ve seen them shake before, but that’s only afterwards. After someone is patched up, or dead. Never when someone is actively bleeding.”

Trent chuckled a bit, “Yeah, thanks for helping me…”

“That’s all?” Sonny narrowed his eyes a little.

“No, there’s a whole list. I probably could have done that entire cork board and red string thing.” Clay chuckled, “Ever noticed how… You guys check up on each other CONSTANTLY. Whenever there’s a pause in conversation, or when action dies down, you look towards each other.”

“I didn’t know we did that…” Metal rubbed at his neck, “We probably do, but I hadn’t noticed.”

Clay chuckled, “And then we have the fact that Trent refuses to let you tough it out with small injuries the way the rest of us can convince him to just overlook a sprained ankle, bruised wrist, etc.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit annoying…” Metal chuckled and winked at Trent.

“And you’re no better…” Clay chuckled, “Remember that time Trent sprained his wrist a year ago?”

“Hey, that was his right wrist.” Metal shrugged, “I don’t trust that fool when it comes to injuries to his right arm.”

“It was just a sprain…” Trent shrugged.

“Yeah, but that arm…” Metal shook his head, “Not sure if you remember this or not, but the doctor said you needed to be careful with it.”

“Yeah, cause he couldn’t be sure if lymphatic system was damaged or not.” Trent shrugged, “Obviously, it’s doing quite well. And he cleared me for those mundane things before he let me requalify.”

“You weren’t even supposed to get a needle stabbed into that arm at one point.”

“-Before the doctor figured out that my lymph nodes and vessels were okay.” Trent nodded, “Ancient history by now.”

Metal shrugged a little, “The doctor was pretty strict about it back then…”

“-But when he figured out that my lymphatic system was working correctly, I didn’t have to worry about that any longer…” Trent struggled not to roll his eyes, “It was just in case that was too damaged to do its job, then I would have had to be careful about that sort of stuff. My arm can survive a beating or fifty.”

“Just let me worry from time to time, alright?” Metal sighed.

Clay chuckled, “And then there’s the coffees. How many times have you brought coffee for each other, but not the whole team, huh?”

“There’s… There’s no number for that…” Trent admitted.

Metal nodded along.

“Now that I know about it, I see the clues…” Brock shrugged, “Like how they almost always end up on room together if we’re split into two-and-two…”

“YEAH!” Clay nodded.

“Actually, that’s often on me…” Jason admitted.

Metal smirked, “Yeah, about that… Thanks.”

Jason shrugged a little, “Hey, as long as someone actually wants to be around your ripe shoes, or as long as someone doesn’t mind Trent’s ability to take up more space than you would think he could… I’m not about to mess with what sorts itself out.”

Trent chuckled, “Yeah, thanks.”

“My favorite Full-Trent’ism is when they’re drunk, and try to tell each other the other one is too drunk, and should go home…” Sonny smirked.

“Full-Trent?” Ray frowned, “Like that celebrity thing? Like Brangelina when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were a thing?”

“Ship name…” Sonny shrugged, “So, kinda…”

“Pretty sure that shouldn’t be done with our names…” Metal frowned, “Sounds too cheesy…”

“I’m with Metal on that…” Trent nodded.

Clay shrugged a little, “Could be Fent, or Sawyal, or Metawyer… Pretty sure that is more ship-name like than just putting Full and Trent next to each other. Probably a lot of other combinations there as well.”

“Guys, no.” Metal shook his head,

“Frent?” Brock offered up, “Sawyel?”

Trent chuckled, “No… It sounds horrible. Please stop.”

Ray chuckled, “Well, my favorite Full-Trent’ism is the glances. -Now that I know you actually sneak glances at each other.”

“We’ve lost, haven’t we?” Metal raised his eyebrows and looked up at Trent.

“Feels like it…” Trent sighed.


	10. Chapter 10

Jackson stopped outside the door to Metal’s apartment. He heard noises inside, noises which could only be one thing according to his imagination. 

He instinctively knew he didn’t want to unlock the door with the spare key he had. If what he thought was happening inside, he didn’t mind, but he didn’t want to witness it.

He looked towards the end of the hall, and the door leading out to the stairs. He could go back, call Metal and act like he had just arrived. Could go all the way outside even, could go to the bakery a block away. Say something like, _‘hey, I’m by Paulie’s now. Thought I’d get a snack, you want something?’_. Yeah, he could do that.

He started walking.

123123123

“Hey, Metal! How are ya?” he grinned as his teammate picked up.

“Fine-fine. Good.” The answer was a little rushed, and Metal was a tad bit winded.

“Look, I’m right next to Paulie’s now… I’m in the mood for a donut or some other snack, and I thought I’d visit you. So, you want anything at Paulie’s? Coffee, anything?”

He heard Metal swallow, heard him move around a little. He was pretty sure he heard him have a silent conversation with someone as well.

“Well?” Jackson pried after the silence had lasted long enough.

“Yeah, that’d be great…” he answered, “You think you could bring one of those cream filled ones, and one with jam? And two coffees, black?”

“Got a visitor already?” he knew the answer, but Metal didn’t know that he knew.

“Yeah.”

“Want me to come back later instead?”

“No…” Metal chuckled, “No, we were just about to put the game on.”

_Yeah, right…_

“Alright, think I’ll be there in 10-15 then…”

“Copy that…” Metal replied.

123123123

He did his best to keep his jaw from hitting the floor when he entered the apartment a while later and found Trent sitting on the couch. He had so many questions, none of which he really wanted the answer to.

“So, which game are we watching?” Jackson asked as he placed the baked goods and the coffee on the counter.

“Uhh…” Metal looked around for a bit, “Think it was Cowboys-Rams…”

Jackson smirked a little, It definitely wasn’t Cowboys against Rams. Cowboys had played Titans on Thursday , and Rams were playing Broncos come Monday. And this was a Sunday. But he enjoyed seeing Metal having to make stuff up on the go. Especially with such poor results.

123123123

He had found it incredibly amusing when they turned the television on and couldn’t find a football game matching either of the teams Metal had mentioned. But they settled for a game between the Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons.

He wouldn’t have guessed Metal was one to like other men, but he was happy for him either way. That being said, he would have to start calling ahead before he showed up from now on.

123123123

[a few days later]

He had to bring it up in some way. And the run Full Metal and he went on each Tuesday was a good place to start.

“So…” he started as they ran along the length of the beach, “I actually walked up to your apartment like I usually do on Sunday.”

Metal lost all of his speed, and for the first time Jackson could remember, his brother actually looked scared.

“Hey man, chill.” Jackson turned and walked the few paces back to Metal, “It’s alright. No one needs to know. Just want to let you know that your walls are thin.”

Metal still looked a bit shell-shocked.

“Hey… It’s alright…” Jackson smiled, “Talk, or breathe or something. Please.”

“No one’s supposed to know.”

“That’s alright, I’m not telling anybody else.” Jackson shrugged, “So, how long have you been…”

Metal shook his head a little, “The less you know…”

“Bro…” Jackson chuckled, “I’m an ally… You know Andrew, he’s gay. I wouldn’t be worth anything if I didn’t support the man I grew up in the same house as. And I know you and Trent are the same guys who enlisted and went through hell to fight for this country’s safety.”

“Andrew? Your foster brother?”

Jackson nodded, “The one who I told you beat those bullies who picked on me in second grade, yes.”

“Really?”

“You’re not going to say something like ‘he doesn’t look/act/seem gay’, are you? Because you of all people should know that stereotypes don’t match reality all that often.” Jackson chuckled.

“No, I just…” Metal shrugged, “Never would’ve guessed.”

Jackson nodded, “So, you and Trent… New thing, or?”

Metal shook his head a little, “Four and a half years pretty soon.”

“Wow, congrats!”

Metal nodded a little.

“Guess me trying to be a wingman is kinda annoying when we’re out drinking, right?”

Metal chuckled, “Think you can dial it down a few notches, yeah.”

“Maybe just do it once in a while, just for show, you know…”

Metal nodded a little, “Man, this is embarrassing…”

“Your thin walls, yeah.” Jackson chuckled, “Maybe… Do some renovation, insulate a bit? Or, find a new apartment? You’ve been bitching about all that small stuff which is wrong with that one for as long as I’ve known you.”

Metal chuckled a bit more, “Yeah, the people who built that must’ve been drunk, or high.”

“Or both…” Jackson chuckled, “But, definitely do something about it. Even though I support you, I never want to walk in on you and Trent in the act, okay?”

Metal nodded, “Yeah, pretty sure I can speak for both of us when I say I don’t want that either.”

They started moving again, at a slower pace than they had kept up until that point in their run.

“So, was I completely off the field when I tried to set you up with women?”

“No…” Metal shook his head a little, “No, I’m bi. But I think this is the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in. Except the ‘our friends and most of our family doesn’t know’ part.”

Jackson chuckled, “Yeah, that must be hard, right?”

“It’s weird. Still is.” Metal nodded as he rounded a corner at a jog, “Imagine you want to tell EVERYONE about this amazing person you know and love, but you can’t.”

Jackson nodded, “Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, without any repercussions, I’m here.”

“Thanks.” Metal smiled over at him, “I appreciate it.”


	11. Chapter 11

He limped towards the front door. The last spin up had kicked his ass in more ways than one.

A key slid into the lock before he even got halfway there. He stopped.

The door opened, Trent was on the other side. Then he quickly walked over next to him, his eyes scanning every visible part of him.

“-Can I hug you?” he choked out.

“Carefully.” Metal nodded in return, “Broke a rib or three.”

One of Trent’s hands darted up to wipe away a tear before he carefully wrapped his arms around Metal.

“I’m so sorry about…” Trent swallowed hard, “It was a stupid fight. I regretted it so much when I saw the news.”

Metal squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to not cry himself. He had his right arm resting on Trent’s left shoulder, his head nestled between his arm and Trent’s head. His left side hurt too much for him to lift his arm that high, so he let his hand fall against Trent’s hip.

“It’s alright.” Metal gave up his attempt of not crying, “I both said and did some stupid stuff myself. I regretted it too.”

Trent leaned back a little, “How bad are you?”

Metal shrugged his right shoulder a little, “Figured I still couldn’t fly…”

Trent chuckled a little, “Not what I asked, but okay…”

Metal nodded a little, “Some broken ribs under my left arm. Sprained my left wrist a little. Dislocated two fingers. Bruised my right knee and twisted my left ankle.”

“Oh, that’s a list…”

“Benny gave me somewhere north of 35 stitches. Oh, and I hit my lip on something, so I looked like I had some sort of injection there for a while…”

Trent nodded a little, “Yeah, looks like you’ve got a light bruise there…”

Metal nodded.

“You look like it hurts to stand…”

“I’ve got a fluid-filled knee on one leg, and my other ankle is colorful and swollen…” Metal sighed, “Not my favorite position right now, I’ll admit that…”

“You want support back to the couch?”

“Could we take the bed?” Metal swallowed, “I just want to lay next to you again, if that’s alright?”

Trent nodded and placed a careful kiss on one of Metal’s cheeks, “Forget the fight ever happened?”

Metal nodded, “I hoped we could.”

Trent smiled and placed another kiss, “Which side do you want me on?”

“Right. Can’t lift my left because of the ribs.”

Trent nodded and dipped under Metal’s right arm.


	12. Chapter 12

_[A couple of years after the knee-shot]_

  
“How was work?” Trent asked as Metal set down his backpack in the hallway.

Metal sighed deeply as he stepped into the kitchen. “I need a coffee, or fifteen.”

“That bad?” Trent frowned.

“My head hurts, my lower back hurts.”

Trent smirked a little.

“My right hip and left knee is sore.” Metal grouched, “My…”

“Sorry babe, I can’t take you seriously with those color marker streaks on your forehead.”

Metal chuckled a little despite himself and rubbed at his forehead, “-I can’t wait to take off my prosthetic and have a bath.”

Trent nodded a little.

“I swear, kindergarteners are worse than they seem.”

Trent chuckled, “You know what? I believe you.”

“You better.” Metal nodded, “I’d rather go up against fifteen tango’s alone, than having to watch fifteen four-year-old’s alone.”

“That bad?”

“Today, yeah.” Full Metal sighed before he sat down with a groan by the kitchen table.

“But, the kids love their kindergarten uncle…” Trent smirked, “None of us would’ve thought that beforehand. Not even I…”

Metal chuckled, “Yeah… Well… I do have some experience babysitting. Being Alpha-1 was basically like babysitting full-grown men. I’m not saying they’re necessarily smarter than your average four-year-old, but they’re certainly heavier.”

Trent chuckled as he poured up a cup of coffee and placed it in front of Metal. “Do you still miss it?”

“I wouldn’t be able to do that stuff anymore.”

“Not what I asked.” Trent shrugged and filled up his own cup, “I asked if you miss it.”

“Well, yeah. Wouldn’t you?”

Trent shrugged a little, “Once upon a time, yeah…”

Metal tilted his head questioningly.

“I’m thinking I might not reenlist next time.” Trent took a deep breath, “Figured it might be time for me to see the world from the civilian side.”

“Yeah?”

Trent nodded, “Haven’t decided yet, but now you know.”

“It’d be nice to not be here alone while you’re on deployments anymore.”

“Yeah, you’ve been worrying more.”

“I have.” Metal admitted, “It’s different when you’re no longer able to…”

Trent nodded and covered the majority of his scar with his left hand, “I know… Never fun to be the one at home.”

“Yeah, of course you know…” Metal chuckled, “Feels like a lifetime ago, though.”

“It does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I kinda decided to give FM an unlikely career after SEAL Team...


	13. Chapter 13

_[2019]_

Metal was sporting a soft smile as he sat drawing in a book.

“Whatcha doing?” Trent asked as he sat down in the couch placed next to the one Metal was sitting in.

Metal shrugged a little, not moving his eyes or the pencil in his hand away from the notebook he had rested against his thigh.

“Come on…” Trent was tempted to lean over and sneak a peek.

“Journaling, I guess.” Metal shrugged, “Adding a few sketches here and there…”

“Can I see?” Trent asked.

Metal smirked and glanced over at the other guys before he winked at Trent, “Only if you want to wake up with sharpie tattoos for the next week or so…”

Trent nodded a little, “Never mind…”

123123123

[Later that evening]

“Hey, now that we’re alone…” Trent shrugged, “Want to tell me what you were writing and drawing?”

Metal smirked again, and tossed the notebook.

Trent opened the book and found the latest page. “Me? Again?”

“You’re fun to draw…” Metal winked, “And you did stop that bleed Clay had. So… Yet another time I can draw you without it being suspicious.”

Trent chuckled a bit, “You’re really great at drawing…”

“I didn’t joke about art school, you know…”

“It’s hard to believe that’s actually true, with the personality you show the rest of the world.” Trent looked over, “But, makes total sense for me.”

Metal smirked a bit.

“And writing too…” Trent shrugged, “I was there… But the way you describe it feels more real that what I felt out there…”

“Hey, it’s only words on a page. Not hard at all.”

“We are of different opinions when it comes to what’s hard or not…” Trent chuckled, “I mean it, I would read an entire book series if you decided to write one.”

“Like you’d ever find the time to read anything other than medic stuff…” Metal chuckled.

Trent shrugged, “-Or, you could just tell me the stories… I’d love that too.”

“Well, if I ever decide to make up stories… I’ll let you know.”


	14. Chapter 14

[2004]  
  


He was halfway through his latest beer when his attention was torn towards the entrance where Trent hobbled back in.

Metal placed his bottle back on the table, he tried to keep the worried look off his face as he tried to figure out what had happened in the ten minutes Trent, Thirty and Brett had been outside.

He frowned a little, and chose to pull out the chair to his right.

“What happened?” he grumbled as Trent limped over.

“Nothing.” Trent swallowed as he sat down.

“T went down, HARD!” Thirty Mike chuckled and shook his head as Trent lowered himself to the chair.

“Yeah? What happened?” Jason shot in.

“Ran straight into a pothole.” Trent frowned as he placed his right foot on top of his left knee and rubbed at his ankle.

“Thirty’s right, you went down pretty hard there lad.” Brett frowned, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“M’fine.” Trent grimaced, “Just a few scrapes and a painful ankle.”

“Why were you running?” Jason frowned.

“Drunken competitions.” Brett clarified, “200 meter sprint. Young bastard had a good set of yards on me when he went down like a marionette with its strings cut.”

“Of course I won…” Thirty almost gloated.

“Only because Trent got taken out by a pothole.” Brett scoffed, “And because I stopped to see if he was alright, like you didn’t.”

“Still won.”

Trent rolled his eyes in silence to Thirty’s claim.

“You need some ice on that?” Metal narrowed his eyes a little and nodded towards the ankle.

Trent shrugged.

“I’ll fix some ice.” Metal decided and got up to do something about it. Of course there had to be some ice at a bar, and a plastic bag or something.

A couple of minutes later he handed Trent a ziplock bag filled with ice. “You should probably try to keep that ankle up for a while as well. I heard with Betty if she had some ace-wrap or something. She didn’t have anything here in the front, said she’d take a look in the back once she got a chance.”

“Thanks.” Trent nodded.

Metal sat down once again and looked at Trent’s hands wrapped around his ankle.

“Hey, you’ve skinned the top of your knee…” he sighed, “Can’t be that comfortable to have your ankle rested on top of it… You can rest your ankle on my lap if you think that would be more comfortable.”

Trent nodded a little and lifted his leg over at Metal’s lap. He handed the icebag over to Metal as well, so that he could place it against his ankle.

“Top or side?” Metal asked as we weighed the icebag in his hand.

“Front-outside.”

Metal nodded a little and gently placed the bag over Trent’s socks and jeans, “What do you think? Break? Sprain? Something else?”

“Just a sprain…” Trent flashed a short grimace, “Gonna admit it’s one of the suckiest I’ve gotten though.”

“You gonna let us take a look at it?”

“Not necessary,” Trent shook his head, “Besides, I think my socks can be used for chemical warfare right now.”

“Toxic socks?” Metal smirked a little.

“I think people would shun me from this bar if anyone attempts taking my shoe off.”

“Knowing how bad your socks can get in a day, yeah.” Jason chuckled a little.

Metal nodded a little as well, “How is it? Do you feel like going home to rest or do you want to stay here?”

Trent shrugged a little, “It’s only going to feel worse the longer I stay here… But, I think I might need a little help actually getting home.”

“Yeah, you definitely can’t walk from here like you usually do…” Metal smirked.

“I could.” Trent frowned, “-If I got a shoulder to lean on.”

“Would probably be better if we just got a taxi for you.” Jason shot in again, “You were limping a lot. And it’s almost three miles to your place.”

“Jay’s got a point.” Metal shrugged, “But you’re probably going to cuss those stairs up to your apartment. I can tag along if you want me to, make sure you make it up those stairs okay and find something to wrap around that ankle of yours…”

“You sure?” Trent tilted his head a little.

Metal nodded, “It’s on the way to my place anyway, and I probably should get home as well. Mom invited to family dinner tomorrow, don’t wanna be too hungover.”

123123123

“So, did your mom really invite you to dinner tomorrow?” Trent asked as they stepped onto the floor of his apartment.

“Yeah.” Metal nodded a little, “You wanna come? She always makes enough for about an entire team of SEALs. -And she adores you.”

Trent nodded a little as they made their way down the hall, “Your mom’s the best. -You wanna spend the night?”

“Hey, someone’s gotta make sure you keep off that ankle for a while.”

Trent sucked a sharp breath and grimaced.

“You good there?”

“My ankle wobbled a bit. Hurts a lot.” Trent admitted as they stood still in the middle of the corridor, he was holding his foot off the ground as he waited for the spike of pain to pass. 

“Are you sure you shouldn’t get a doctor to look at it?”

“Can you try not to worry about me for a minute?” Trent chuckled, “I’ll be fine in a week or two…”

Metal rolled his eyes a little, “And you call me stubborn?”

“I do.” Trent smirked.

Metal rubbed the hand he had wrapped around Trent’s hip up and down a little, “Let’s get you inside. And if you don’t use crutches tomorrow, my mom will go full on mother hen on you… -And she’ll prolly whoop my ass for not convincing you to use crutches, so… Use some crutches, okay?”

“I’d love to see your 5’1” mom whoop you.” Trent chuckled, “If only for comic relief. She’s tiny compared to you.”

“I know.” Metal chuckled, “Still got some tricks up her sleeve which should be taught to SEALs.”

Trent chuckled.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so... This one is a bit more spicy than the previous chaps.  
> I just want to point out that I don't know how to write stuff like this, I feel like it just gets tacky or laughable whenever I write this sort of stuff.   
> Hope it came off kinda hot-ish anyway...

He almost forgot how to breathe as Metal’s lips traced the right side of his lower abdomen, the man’s tongue teasingly against his skin every now and then.

He heard Metal chuckle as he continued his task, “Am I taking your breath away?”

Trent chuckled as well, “You freaking dork.”

Metal winked at him before pressed his face against Trent’s abs once again, this time he gently scraped his teeth against his side, before attempting to bite his man ever so slightly.

“Oh! God dammit!” Trent gasped and slid his fingers through Metal’s short hair, “Why do you always do that?”

He could feel the other man smile against his abs, before a short peck was placed where he had just been bitten.

“Because it always makes you jump a little.”

Trent nodded along, his body felt so good right there.

“-And because I think you might like it…” Metal whispered before repeating it on Trent’s other side.

He gasped and squeezed Metal’s shoulder.

Metal was right, he loved what the man was doing to him at the moment. The fact that Metal’s rough hand was gliding up and down from the outside of his thigh and almost up to where his ribs started didn’t make it any less pleasurable.

“Promise I won’t make any marks…” Metal whispered as his kisses and small bites climbed further up Trent’s torso.

He’d love for Metal to make a few marks on him. He could almost imagine how good a bit rougher bite would feel, a bite which would leave a bit of bruising. But he couldn’t get any bitemarks, just in case they got called for a spin up before the bruises had faded. There would be questions he couldn’t answer.

He felt Metal move his legs further up his body. He felt one knee on either side of his midriff as Metal placed one elbow on either side of his head.

He received a gentle kiss before he felt Metal’s right hand knit in his hair, he smiled against the kiss as Metal gently pulled his hair.

“You know I want you to pull harder?” he managed to whisper hastily as he broke away from the kiss.

Metal nodded against him, “Yeah. But it’s kinda fun to just tease you as well.”

Trent trapped his lower lip between his teeth before he huffed an exasperated sigh, earning himself one of Metal’s trademark smirks.

He wrapped one leg back over Metal’s knee at the same time as he wrapped the arm of his same side around Metal’s arm, then he bridged up with his other leg, effectively changing their positions so he was on top.

“Whoah… Easy Tiger…” Metal swallowed hard as he looked up at Trent with lust.

“You’re too slow.” Trent delivered in a growled whisper, “Too gentle.”

“Have your way with me then…” Metal winked, “I’m all yours.”

“All I need you to do, is act a little rougher.” Trent shrugged a little, before leaned down and kissed a trail from Metal’s neck and down towards his left arm. He was rewarded with a rough hand clasping a hold of his left hip and butt cheek, and fingernails scaping just hard enough to make his skin rise in their wake.

“More like this?” Metal asked breathlessly.

He nodded as he moved his head so he could circle one of Metal’s nipples with his tongue instead.

“Damn, that’s nice.” Metal almost gasped as he arched his back under him, “Maybe we should…”

“Nah-uh…” Trent chuckled as he took a short break from running his tongue along his man’s skin, “You teased me for way too long, payback will be a bitch. You know it.”

He almost barked out a laugh when he saw Metal’s exasperated expression as he realized what he had just gotten himself into, then he dove down to continue teasing him.


	16. Chapter 16

Metal laid on the couch. There was football playing on the television, but his mind was hyper focused on the finger brushing against the long faded surgical scar on his left knee and the television was barely background noise.

Then the other hand wrapped around his foot, and the hand which had been playing with his scar moved down to join it.

Trent proceeded to knead his foot, and Metal sent a thankful thought to whatever higher power had decided that the man he loved, loved him in return. -And that he was a wizard when it came to things he could do with his hands. Foot rubs being just one of those treats.

He’d admit it, he was tired, beat and worn out. And this was exactly what he needed tonight.

“Hard being in charge?” Trent asked, still working on Metal’s feet.

Metal nodded a little, “My brain feels like it’s been through a blender, and I’m tired.”

“The word is that you’re handling being Alpha-1 well.” Trent winked as his hands moved to that that part of Metal’s ankle which often got a bit grainy.

Metal almost gasped and melted further into the cushions of the couch with a content little sigh.

“And your guys listen to you, and follow your lead.”

Metal nodded a little, “Think that’s mostly thanks to Jackson…”

“Nah…” Trent shook his head, “I think you might be made for just this. You just don’t realize it yourself yet.”

“I want to argue that, but at the same time I don’t want you to stop doing what you’re doing…” Metal mumbled.

The hands rubbing against one of his ankles continued.

“How about we put that deadbolt on, and shut the rest of the world out for the evening?” Trent offered, “Well, except delivery pizza or something.”

“Or some real hearty Slavic food.” Metal tilted his head a little, “I would possibly kill for those rolled up thingies.”

“Cabbage rolls?”

Metal nodded, “Or that stew, with carrots and potatoes and garlic and beef. That’s also one of the greatest comfort foods I can think of.”

Trent only kept massaging Metal’s foot.

“Oh, and Russian pancakes.”

“I’m pretty sure we could manage to fry up some of those if we tried. Can’t be that hard, right?”

“Probably not.” Metal shrugged, “But I don’t have a recipe…”

“Maybe we could find it on the internet?” Trent mused, “Or if we find a recipe book… That would probably be easier. -If we found one.”

“If we find a recipe book, with those cabbage rolls… Can we try that as well?”

“Sure.” Trent nodded, “But I demand we try that potato thing as well.”

Metal nodded, “Of course…”

“What do you want to do first?” Trent asked as he let go of Metal’s ankle with one hand and slid it up the length of his calf, “Order food? Cuddle?”

Metal contemplated it for a few seconds, “Honestly?”

Trent nodded.

“I wouldn’t mind bending you over the back of the couch…” Metal winked, “Or really test the springs of my mattress.”

“I thought you were tired…”

“Pretty sure I could muster up some energy for that.” 


	17. Chapter 17

“Hey, I’m coming over. Is that alright? Are you home?”

“Think it’d be better if you waited a few days…” the unusually raspy voice of his boyfriend replied.

“Whoa… You sound like shit…”

“Flu…” Metal coughed, “Feel like a zombie.”

“I’m coming over. You’re one of the worst people I know of when it comes to self-preservation.”

“No. Don’t…” Metal groaned, “You’ll get sick as well.”

“Pretty sure I’ll survive it if I catch the flu…” Trent sighed, “I’m not letting you suffer alone.”

“T… I don’t want you to get sick…”

“Well, you don’t sound like you’ll be able to put up a fight when I show up.”

Metal sighed, then coughed.

“I’m gonna fix some chicken soup for you as well.”

“Not hungry…”

“Well, you’ll eat some soup, even if it’s just half a cup’s worth.”


	18. Chapter 18

He could see it, Metal was about to go mental. Trent knew he would have already if he didn’t have as much self discipline as he did. The man was basically vibrating with anger.

“Easy.” Trent whispered quietly, hoping that Metal would hear him.

Trent was happy that the rest of the team was focused on the guy in front of them. Then he could focus on Metal. Step in front of him if he decided this was one of the few times it was okay to let go of all of his restrictions. 

Luckily Sonny was able to take down the guy, without killing him, before Metal acted on his anger.

123123123

“Hey, how are you?” he asked as they walked out of the building. The rest of the team had already made it to the vehicles they were exiting with. He still saw how much the latest mission had riled Metal up.

Metal spit on the ground, fixing steel cold eyes at Trent.

“You really gonna ask that?”

Trent nodded a little, “I know the question sucks… I’d still like the answer.”

“He did it to kids, T.” Metal growled, “Kids. Many.”

“I know, I saw the evidence.”

“I want to inflict pain.” Metal admitted, “A lot of it.”

“The team got him…” Trent reminded him, “He won’t kill any more kids, but some sort of agency will make his life miserable while they try to squeeze information out of him.”

Metal nodded stiffly, “Still want to administer an unholy amount of pain to that insect in human form.”

Trent nodded a bit, “I know this one’s hard for all of us.”

Seeing that Metal squared his jaw he couldn’t hold back the question. “You’re usually calm, cool and collected. Why are you the one who’s about to rip someone’s head off with your bare hands?”

“You really don’t know me…” there was a small break in his voice as he replied.

Trent stopped dead in his tracks. Metal didn’t.

Trent recovered and jogged to catch up with Metal, placing a hand on his shoulder only to be shoved forcefully to the ground.

“HEY!” Trent frowned and tossed a handful of sand and grit at Metal, “What’s your damn problem?”

Metal stopped and turned. His nostrils were flaring, his hands shaking, muscle tense.

“Metal, I know this is a tough one for everyone…” Trent swallowed, “I know.”

Metal’s jaw looked like it was pulsating as he tried to figure out what to say.

“Metal…” Trent tilted his head as he looked up at Metal.

“When I was six…” Metal started, but didn’t make it past that.

“What?”

Metal shook his head.

“Metal…” Trent pressed as he got up and walked over next to Metal.

“T…” Metal continued shaking his head, unable to meet Trent’s eyes.

The careful hand coming in contact with his upper arm was what made Metal’s eyes rim with tears.

Trent swallowed hard, it felt like something was lodged in his throat. “Did… Did anyone…”

“God no!” Metal shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, “No… No one ever did anything to me…”

Trent stood and watched as Metal’s left hand went up to wipe his eyes.

“…When I was six.” Metal repeated, his voice growing thicker with each syllable, “A friend. Of mine.”

Trent felt like crying himself.

“He went missing.” Metal’s voice was trembling, “He was found eighth months later.”

“Oh dear…”

“With eleven other kids.” Metal choked out, “Varying degrees of decomp. From four different towns. They never caught who did it.”

Trent saw anger, frustration and sorrow bubble just beneath Metal’s surface.

“At least four more kids went missing.”

Trent nodded slowly, “We got the guy this time… That guy won’t ever do anything like that to anyone else.”

Metal nodded a little.

Trent raised Metal’s chin with a couple of fingers. “Hey… I’m tired. Are you?”

Metal nodded, barely.

“How about I make something to eat when we get home from this spin up, and we wrap ourselves like burritos with blankets and watch some soap on tv? Or comedy. Or something?”

“I think I need that.”

Trent nodded.


	19. Chapter 19

He concentrated on his inhale, then tried to slow his exhale as well.

“Easy there…” he whispered.

There was a chuckle next to his ear, and the hand which had been rested near his left side slid down and a couple of fingers slipped inside the waistband of his pants.

“I bet we could sneak in a little quickie right here…” the taller man whispered near his ear, “I swear, this deployment is killing me.”

“Someone could walk in on us.”

“The door’s locked.”

“And people on the outside has the key as well…”

Metal stood up straight with a displeased grimace, “Right… Feels like my brain is dissolving.”

“Trust me, that’s not a symptom of ‘not getting it’…”

“I only said it feels like my brain is dissolving.” Metal chuckled, before he stole another kiss.

Trent slipped a couple of fingers inside Metal’s waistband as well, enjoying the sharp inhale it forced on his partner.

“Five months…” Metal shook his head.

“Hey, been just as long for me… Remember?” Trent chuckled a little.

“Come on… Let’s live a little dangerous…” Metal winked and raised Trent’s chin with a couple of fingers, securing easy access for the next kiss.

“We would be so screwed if someone walked in on us…”

“Well, the lack of being screwed is kinda the problem here…”

“Not that kind of screwed.” Trent chuckled.

“We could block the door with something…” Metal offered.

“Would be suspicious if someone came trying to unlock the door and then couldn’t…”

“-Or we could try to sneak off base… But given the random mine fields and snipers, and the shitload of trouble we would be in…”

“Yeah, not doing that…” Trent chuckled and shook his head.

Metal leaned in, his pelvis pressing against Trent’s. Then he grinded his hips a bit, “You can’t say you don’t want to…”

“No, I want to…” Trent swallowed hard, “I really want to.”

The fingers inside his waistband slid towards the button, “What do you say T?”

Trent nodded as his lips found Metal’s, and Metal started unbuttoning his pants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if anyone wants to paint the rest of this 'picture'... Feel free to do so, I'd like to read it, but I won't write it.


	20. Chapter 20

_[After the knee-shot, obviously]_

  
The Bulkhead bar was busy that evening. Lots of girls, a few local carpenters and passing truck drivers. Some SEAL’s. And a few guys he really couldn’t pinpoint.

The group of three he couldn’t remember seeing before sat near where they would sit. The first guy looked to be medium height and build, at least from what he could guess while the three men were still sitting down. He had brown hair and beard, and a weathered face for his age.

The second guy seemed small. At least next to the third guy who had to be a literal giant. The second guy had black hair, which was getting a dusting of silver near his temples. He didn’t have a beard, but he certainly had stubbles.

The third guy, he was giant. There was no doubt he stood above 6’5”, or even taller. He was medium blond, with sun bleached strands. And he was a lot more tan than his light hair color allowed without it looking weird.

Metal glanced over their hands as he waited to get first in line to get some beer or something else to drink.

They all had working hands, or no, fighting hands. The first guy still had bruises over his first and second knuckle. He knew how to punch, not one to suffer the so called ‘boxer’s fracture’ about no respectable boxer would suffer. The guy kept his right hand rested against his beer, bruised knuckles pressed up against the glass dripping with condensation.

The second guy had tan hands, rough for his size. His knuckles weren’t bruised, but his knuckles seemed flattened. The way his own were. Metal wasn’t close enough to see if he had proper boxer’s knuckles or not, where some band over the knuckles were torn, allowing the tendon to subluxate every time he knitted his fists. An injury which could be painful to walk around with, and could feel like nothing as well. The one he had was only visibly noticeable, it didn’t hurt in any way. It just looked funny.

The third guy’s hands matched the second guy’s, just a lot bigger.

Metal still hadn’t decided whether the three men were professional fighters of some sort, or just three guys who enjoyed getting into trouble and picking fights. He was leaning towards professionals, the first guy still active. The two others had quit for some reason. He couldn’t pinpoint what kind of professional though.

He ordered his beer, limped over towards the table Trent and the others had chosen.

The tall blond one locked eyes with him for a second, a knowing and tired look. It almost confused Metal. The blond finished it up with a short nod.

He shook it off, and smiled at his friends, “Hey guys.”

“I’ll say, you wear retirement well.” Sonny winked, “How have you been the last few months?”

Metal shrugged and sat down on the spare chair, “Rather be out there with you… But… Some things are actually impossible.”

Trent nodded, “Well, I for one will take you any way I can get you. As a teammate, as someone to return home to… I don’t care, just as long as I know you’re there.”

Metal flashed a grin in return, “Yeah, yeah… Good to have you back home, it’s been a few lonely months.”

“You walk a lot better than last time I saw you…” Trent smiled and nodded towards his partner’s prosthesis.

“Had a lot of time to practice, not much else to do when all of you are off overseas.” Metal sighed, “But I would have preferred if you stopped by at home before going to the Bulkhead after months on deployment.”

Trent nodded, “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I’ll try not to repeat it.”

Metal shrugged, “Hey, as long as you come home… It’s all good.”

“Hey, uh…” Sonny jutted his jaw towards the other table, “We’ve got eyes on us.”

“Yeah, I noticed them when I walked in…” Metal answered under his breath.

Trent turned around and studied the three men for a split second, “Hey, you wanna come over and hang with us instead of staring at us?”

Two of the three looked uncomfortable all of the sudden, the largest one just shrugged. “Sorry, my buddies here forgets their manners pretty often.”

Trent didn’t take that as an answer, not really. The rest of the team didn’t either.

“Offer still stands. Most of us don’t bite.” Metal shrugged, and pointed his hand towards Brock, “He might…”

The blond giant chuckled. The two others looked uncomfortable still.

“Aw, come on…” The blond elbowed the short guy next to him, “What’s the worst thing that could happen? One of them could end up drinking you under the table?”

“Coop.” The short guy had a warning tone, but the tall one didn’t seem to care as he used the table and the back of the chair as aides getting back up. Then he grabbed a cane which had been leaned against the table.

Metal hadn’t seen the walking cane before that moment, and suddenly understood the look from earlier.

The guy had a pretty bad limp, but Metal wasn’t entirely sure if he still had both his legs or not.

“I’m Coop.” The guy nodded as he pulled a chair over next to their team, “Cooper Lea.”

Their team members presented themselves one by one.

The blond guy nodded at the men who was out of reach to shake hands with, and shook hands with Clay, Trent and Full Metal who sat closest to him.

Metal watched as the guy didn’t try to hide that he checked out the scar along his partner’s arm as they shook hands.

“Pretty gnarly?” Sonny quipped.

Cooper looked up, didn’t answer Sonny but locked eyes with Trent once he had turned his head back towards him, “You wear it well.”

Trent smirked a little, “Thanks.”

Coop had let go of Trent’s hand, but hadn’t turned to shake hands with Metal yet.

“Oh, and my partner and our former teammate…” Trent smiled and gestured to Metal. “Full Metal.”

Coop turned around, a relaxed and winning smile plastered across his face, “Nice to meet you.”

Metal nodded in return, “Yeah, back at you.”

He couldn’t help but glance down at the man’s leg. When he looked back up he was met by a playful smile.

“So, Full Metal. Is there a story behind that nickname?”

“Yeah, the rest of these guys keep forgetting my real name…” Metal chuckled.

The guy chuckled, “Yeah, that happens from time to time, I guess.”

“So, what’s with the cane?” Brock asked after downing a shot of tequila.

“Messed up my leg.” Coop shrugged, “It didn’t want to heal properly, aches and my balance is shit.”

Metal chuckled a little, “Yeah, that sucks.”

Coop nodded next to him, “And you? I saw you limping?”

“Yeah, I had to get a spare part…” Metal shrugged and hitched up the leg of his pant, showing the metal underneath.

“Smart.” Coop nodded, “Long time ago?”

“A little less than a year.” Metal shrugged, “How long is it since your injury?”

“Four.” Coop sighed, “Contemplating having an elective amputation, but…”

“Would’ve been easier if they just took it off back then?”

“I don’t know…” Coop shrugged, “It would’ve been in the past, and I would have had less time to worry and list pro’s and con’s. But… I doubt it would have been any easier.”

Metal nodded, “Yeah, I was kinda relieved that I didn’t have a choice.”

Coop nodded, “May I ask how?”

Metal looked up at Trent, he swallowed quickly.

“It’s not necessary if it’s a sore subject.” Coop held his hands up defensively, before glancing at where Metal’s eyes were pointed.

“You don’t have to shield me…” Trent winked back at Metal,

Metal nodded in return, then he looked over at Coop once he looked back at him, “I was shot through the knee. Dum-dum bullet.”

Coop grimaced, “Aw, that… That must’ve hurt bad, and looked awful.”

The entire team agreed to that.

“Hell, his leg was only hanging on by pure stubbornness.” Sonny shuddered.

“Not a fun experience.” Metal agreed, “And you? May I?”

“We ended up front to front with a truck.” Coop shrugged, “Would’ve been okay, if we hadn’t taken a car from someone who’d never need it again, because one of my teammates had killed the Humvee. The car was old and rattly, it barely stuck together before the truck hit us. So, of course the front of it collapsed in on my side.”

“Ouch.”

Coop nodded, “Yeah.”

“Hey, there’s room for your buddies as well…” Jason shrugged.

“Yeah…” Coop frowned, “Both Brown and Pete are pretty shy when they’re not in ‘their element’.”

“And what’s their element?” Sonny chuckled.

“Well, I imagine it’s pretty close to your element, in some sort of way. Originally anyway…” Coop shrugged, “Pete has gone on to become one of the best orthopedic surgeons along this coast. You should see him talk with white-coat colleagues.”

“So, what were you?” Metal asked, “Navy? Army? Marine? Air force?”

“Army.” Coop looked down, “Figured that’s not popular to say in a bar full of Navy patrons.”

“Nah, you’re good.” Jason chuckled.

“Thanks.” Coop nodded.

123123123

About ten minutes later, Coop had managed to get his friends over to their table.

“Wow.” Metal wanted to punch himself for the word slipping out of his mouth when he saw the short man walk over to their table. One of his shoes were replaced by a running blade, “Damn, sorry.”

The short man just flashed a grin, before answering in a thick New York accent, “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I saw you show yours to Coop. I’m Pete, by the way. Pete Santorro.”

“Wait a minute…” Trent frowned and angled his head to look directly at the short New Yorker. “You were a medic on one of the Delta Force teams, weren’t you?”

“Well, A decade and a half ago, that was me.” Pete chuckled, “Have we met?”

“Only once, I think.” Trent nodded, “One of the times you cooperated with a SEAL Team, think it would’ve been about eighteen years ago now.”

Pete frowned a little as he searched through the long forgotten memories in the back of his mind. “Riyadh?”

Trent nodded.

Pete’s eyes turned into thin slits as he thought back, “Wait, you had long hair? Didn’t you?”

“He sure did.” Metal chuckled.

“Man, I’m sorry I don’t remember your name anymore…” Pete frowned, “Your last name started with ‘S’, didn’t it? I remember I was impressed, you had a little more experience than me back then. I remember that.”

“Sawyer. Yeah.” Trent nodded, “Trent Sawyer. And thank you, I remember being busy admiring your work during the…”

“-Aftermath…” Jason offered.

“Yeah, let’s call it that.” Coop nodded.

“Wait? You were there as well?” Metal sat back a little, “Aren’t you a little young for that?”

“Was my very first OP.” Coop nodded, “Man, I was not ready for it back then. I certainly learned how a fish out of water has it.”

“Wait, you have an older brother as well, don’t you? Also a Delta guy.” Jason’s brows knit together.

“Had.” Coop swallowed, “I had one.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah, me too.” Coop nodded, “Great soldier, didn’t handle the real life very well after the things he saw. Chose to opt out.”

“That’s a heavy one to swallow.” Clay sighed and pressed the bottle of beer to his lips.

“Yeah, but it’s ancient history by now.” Coop swallowed and let his face fall back in a neutral expression, “So, you’re all SEAL’s?”

“Used to be…” Metal shrugged.

“Nah, you’re still one of us.” Sonny leaned forward and clunked his bottle against Metal’s one, “Just because you’re ‘some assembly required’ and don’t go on spin ups or deployments with the rest of us. You’re still going to be a SEAL until the day you park your bunny slipper.”

Pete chuckled, “I like this Texan… He’s kinda funny.”

“Yeah, we plan on keeping him around.” Trent chuckled, then he turned towards Pete again, “So, ortho surgeon? How did that happen?”

“Long and boring story.” Pete sighed, “I was letting the army pay my way through medical school. Wanted to end up an army doctor when I figured the regular wear and tear was getting enough. And then this other guy and I were sent on a voluntold mission, and the truck we were driving set off an IED. I had about a year left before I had my license then. Figured I’d finish it once I was out of the hospital. And ortho… It sounds like a sick joke, but all of the sudden it was all I wanted to do.”

Trent nodded, “I kinda wish I had done something similar. Don’t think I’d be a candidate for becoming a surgeon though, but… Would’ve been a smart move to think of something like that way back when.”

“Because of your arm?” Pete nodded towards the visible scar, “That’s why you don’t think you could become a surgeon?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve got pretty steady hands… But not steady enough to be a surgeon.”

“That really depends on what kind of surgeon you’d be working towards becoming.” Pete shrugged, “Neuro surgeon, yeah… But I don’t think I could’ve done that either. Vascular? Maybe, maybe not… Bones? As sure as you don’t contaminate stuff, it’s more hard work than delicate often.”

“Yeah?”

“Often.” Pete shrugged, “You can grip a tool to work on a car, or you’re able to stitch up your rag-tag crew when it’s needed?”

“Yeah.”

“My guess is, your arm and hand would be good enough to be an ortho surgeon.” Pete shrugged, “Now, I don’t know if you suffer from a lot of pain as a result of that injury. That’s also a factor. It’s hours working with your hands, often gripping things tightly as well.”

Metal smirked as he knew the conversation between Trent and the short New Yorker would probably last for a while.

123123123

“Hey, uh…” Tony Brown leaned over to Sonny, who he had ended up sitting next to, “Is it true those two are a couple?”

“Trent and Full Metal? Yeah.” Sonny grinned, “They are. -And you’re gonna get in trouble with all of us if you’re against it.”

“No…” Brown shook his head, “No, I admire it. Were they a couple back when they both were active as well?”

“Both yeah and no…” Sonny chuckled, “They were a couple, but they weren’t open about it. We didn’t know before Metal got injured.”

Brown nodded a little.

“You almost look jealous there…” Sonny tilted his head and looked at the guy he didn’t really know.

Tony shrugged, “Those two knows.”

Sonny waited.

“-My team does not.”

“Oh…” Sonny nodded, “Well, good luck with whatever you choose to do about it.”

“Thank you.” Brown chuckled, “I’m pretty sure my team would be okay with it if I told them.”

“-But the brass?”

“Yeah, think my closest boss would throw a fit, and find some other reason to make my life miserable.”

Sonny frowned, “That sucks.”

Brown nodded, “Well, he’s gotta retire sometime, right? I just have to outlast him.”

Sonny chuckled, “That’s the spirit. If you can’t beat them, just wait until they take themselves out of the game.”

“-Or give Trent an RPG to launch…” Metal chuckled, “Sorry, didn’t really catch what you were talking about… But Trent with an RPG launcher solves the ‘can’t beat them problem’, and that dude will grin for a week.”

Sonny chuckled, “What was it? ‘Correction, _I_ just detonated an enemy VBIED 30 meters from our egress point’?”

Metal nodded, “You should’ve seen him when we got home after that one… Just couldn’t stop smiling.”

“Wait, how?”

“Enemy VBIED plus RPG…” Metal shrugged, “I think the math is pretty clear.”

“Yeah, but… For real?”

“For real.” Sonny chuckled, “Metal, just be glad it wasn’t me… I would probably have boasted about it until the rest of the team figured it would be time to gag and hogtie me…”

“Yeah, I believe you…” Metal chuckled, “So, what were you really talking about?”

“Just…” Brown shrugged, “Stuff.”

“Okay, Mr. Secretive.” Metal chuckled.

“Just, I hope to one day have what you and…”

“Trent?” Metal suggested.

“Yeah, what you and Trent have.” Brown nodded, “Minus the some assembly required part, hopefully.”

“Then I hope you get it.” Metal smiled, “Not the need for spare parts, but… You know. Feeling safe enough to share everything.”

“Thank you.”

Metal nodded a little before he looked down at the empty beer bottle in his hand.

“Want me to get you a new one?” Sonny offered, “I’m about dry myself.”

“Nah, I think I’ve had enough already.” Metal shook his head, “My leg makes it hard enough to balance without being entirely shitfaced.”

“Right.” Sonny nodded, “If you change your mind… Just let me know.”

Metal nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so... We ended up with a lot of mirroring here...  
> And not much plot.   
> I just wanted to force some OC's at you, for no particular reason. Sorry.


	21. A moment for ourselves

The palm landing on his upper back made him stiffen up at first, but then when he realized who it was, he relaxed.

“Sorry.” Trent shrugged.

“What? No.”

“-I felt that.” Trent shrugged, “Mr. Big-Strong-SEAL.”

“-I was just a bit lost in thought.” Metal shrugged.

“You almost jumped.” Trent reasoned, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I never want to do that.”

“No big deal.” Metal winked back and twisted around to face Trent head on, he brought a hand up to Trent’s hip, resting it there. “Now… We’ve got three hours to go before we have anywhere to be…”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Say, twenty minutes for a nice long shower afterwards…”

“And before that?”

“No one else is here… We have a moment to ourselves for once.”

Trent tilted his head. Metal raised his other hand to his partner’s other hip, and pulled him closer.

Trent didn’t press closer, or pull away. He let Metal take the lead.

Metal looked up, met Trent’s eyes, then pressed his lips against Trent’s stomach not too far above where his belt rested.

He felt how Trent leaned into him ever so slightly. He grinned. He let one hand slip from Trent’s hip and to the lower front of his abdomen. “Those abs… I love those abs.”

Trent chuckled a bit as Metal once again pressed his lips against his stomach.

“We could spend our time doing things which are a lot more fun than sitting around, waiting.” Metal said as he slipped a hand under Trent’s old t-shirt. “For the next three ours we only have to wait in case they need us earlier…”

Trent placed one knee on the bench Metal sat on. Slipping an arm behind Metal’s neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah... If anyone wants to make a mature scene of this... Knock yourselves out. I'm not gonna do it myself, but... I'd love reading it.


	22. Wyoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I imagine this taking place in their early years as a couple. Before any of their teammates knew, before Trent's injury, when they still were YOUNG.  
> Like, mid-to-late 20's or early (EAAARRRLLLY) 30's. 
> 
> And I wanted to have Metal's family come from a place very different from where Trent's from (I just decided that Trent's from Bakersfield, just like Tyler.)
> 
> And yeah, this chapter is probably a bit jumbled. It could've been a story of its own, but I was too lazy for that. So I let the chapter have a few time-jumps.

“Come on… It’ll be fun!”

“-You do know I’m Californian, right?” Trent frowned, “Just a little more than a hundred miles from LA. So, not the high mountains up north, those which actually has snow. No… I’m more of a 100, 110 degrees in the shade kind of guy.”

“I know. I’ve visited your parents.” Metal chuckled.

“-And I’ve met yours.” Trent shrugged.

“-But, you haven’t met my grandma yet…” Metal danced his shoulders a little, “You’ll love her. She’ll love you just as much. And grandpa… Well, he’s the best. -A little old, but the best.”

“Look, I’d love to just visit your grandparents. But that’s not what you led with. You led with, ‘hey, wanna go to Wyoming and freeze your ass off on slippery strips of death.”

“Skis?”

“Yes. Skis.”

“You do know how to ski…” Metal shrugged, “Count it as giving yourself some extra practice in case we get a mission in the snow for once.”

“Oh, you’d love that, you masochistic monster.”

“-I’m not the one who likes having my hair pulled, or likes getting bit.” Metal tried to keep a straight face, but his lips were curving upward no matter how hard he tried.

“-But you are the one who will work out until you puke, even if no one is pushing you.” Trent shot back, “And you’ll grin…”

Metal didn’t really have an answer, he just shrugged.

Almost half a minute passed before either of them said anything.

“Come on… You can sit inside all the time we’re there if you want to…” Metal shrugged, “My gran will probably knit you a sweater and a pair or three of socks in a week. More if we stay longer…”

“Isn’t that a little much in a short time.”

“You ain’t seen her knit yet.” Metal shrugged, “Pretty sure she can do it in her sleep as well.”

Trent chuckled.

“You’ll love it.” Metal smiled, “I promise I won’t force you to do outdoor activities if you don’t want to…”

“You mean it?”

Metal nodded, “I will ask you, but I won’t force you. Okay?”

The soft smile on Trent’s lips told Metal he had won.

“Will you?”

“Okay, yeah… I’ll tag along.”

123123123

When they finally made the trip, Metal kept his promise. He asked, but didn’t force. He let Trent stay home with his grandparents, while he tagged along with siblings and cousins to ski through the woods, or ride down the slopes of Jackson Hole.

Metal was right, it didn’t take long before it was obvious to Trent that both Metal’s grandparents loved him as well.

Two days in, Trent had five new pairs of socks, and two new pairs of mittens. _‘Take them, my knit project drawer is overflowing…’_ And Grandma Anne was halfway through a knit sweater.

And Trent found that he had a lot in common with Metal’s grandpa, Christian. Christian had been a paramedic since the dawn of time, starting out in the army and then continuing at home. And they both had the same kind of humor.

Trent had no regrets about traveling to a place in Wyoming where the Fahrenheit for the moment tried to reach zero. And, he’d gladly do it again, as long as they could have the same ground rules. Metal could do whatever he wanted in the cold, Trent would stay inside and bake cookies with grandma. Best deal ever.

123123123

“I’ll say… Scotty and Jamey are late tonight…” Anne frowned and glanced down at her wristwatch, “It’s almost 9p.m.”

“Probably stayed for the night ride as well…” Christian shrugged, “We both know both of those kids very well.”

“Yeah…” Anne sighed, “But they usually text. I’m a bit worried.”

Trent silently agreed with Anne. Metal had been home at 7:30 at the latest the five days they had been there so far. He almost wanted to call him, but then again. Metal was a grown man, he could take care of himself.

“The kids will be fine…” Christian shrugged, “Probably just forgot the time, like always.”

That made Trent smirk. He couldn’t remember Metal forgetting time like that, ever. But Christian made it sound like a near everyday thing.

“Yeah, they’re probably fine…” Trent nodded, just as the beam of Jamey’s headlights reflected off the snow near the garage.

123123123

“Hey!” Metal grinned as he stepped inside and started undressing, “Sorry we’re late. Stayed for the late evening rides, and _EGGHEAD_ over here decided to ride into an offpiste trail he didn’t know! That one was NOT made for snowboards!”

“Hey, I said I was sorry…” Jamey chuckled, “And I struggled just as much as you.”

“You both know those trails can be dangerous.” Anne frowned as he stepped over to glance out into the hallway where two of her grandsons shed their winter gear.

“Safe enough…” Metal shrugged, “As long as the conditions are as they are. The worst part about today was trying to get up five hills we didn’t have enough momentum to get up without strapping out of our boards. And the five feet of snow we had to plow through in order to climb those small hills.”

“Already said I was sorry.”

“Well, I’m still telling gramps how bad your style is…” Metal teased and elbowed his cousin.

Trent was a bit confused. He had met A LOT of relatives in a short time, and Metal treated everyone differently. He was still _his_ Full Metal, but something changed if it was Jamey, Brad or whoever else was the relative present.

“Oh yeah? How bad was it?” Christian chuckled.

“Well, Jamey barely left town for college. Still can’t stick small jumps.”

“Carter… Those right there, those are fighting words.”

Metal chuckled, “Bring it. I’d like to know that I can win over a former 5th place high school wrestler. I don’t doubt I will, but… I’d still like to prove it.”

“You jerk.” Jamey chuckled.

“Still not sticking even small jumps, eh?” Christian chuckled, “James, you should be ashamed.”

“-I know…” Jamey frowned, before punching Metal in the upper arm, “Did you really have to tell gramps?”

“I did.” Metal beamed.

“Will somebody tell me why that’s a big deal?” Trent shrugged, “I don’t follow along…”

“Oh, sweetie…” Anne grinned, “First of all, it’s a rite of passage here. Second, Christian was one of the best in the area back when he snowboarded.”

“Oh…”

“It’s been a while.” Christian smirked, “I still ride, but grandpa style. No park builds, no rails, no boxes.”

“Oh, okay.” Trent nodded.

“Yeah, the mountain told him he was getting to old for that a few years back…” Anne shrugged, “But, you know Scotty, and he’s the same kind of stubborn as his grandpa. So… It was a hard lesson.”

Christian nodded, Trent did as well.

“-Broke my hip. Nothing says ‘you’re getting old’ like a broken hip.” Christian looked over at Trent and shrugged, “At least when it’s from something you chose to do.”

“I guess.” Trent nodded, and looked over at Metal, “I do have to say though, coming here was a great idea. You’re really adorable with those frosty air rosy cheeks.”

“-Good thing is, you can’t see him blushing.” Jamey shot in.

Metal didn’t bother about his cousin, but winked at Trent.

“Well, you two must be famished.” Anne sighed and glanced at her two grandsons, “Dinner was probably ready almost an hour ago, but it’s the stew. So it only gets better the longer it simmers.”

“Oh, yum!” Jamey grinned, and pushed past Metal, who rolled his eyes at him.

“So, did you have fun?” Trent asked as Metal stepped into the kitchen as well.

“I did.” He grinned back, “Would’ve been great if you wanted to come as well, “But I’m not going to make you do it.”

Trent smiled back, “How about, Thursday next week? -If the weather is nice and all of those precautions. I could probably use some practice if we ever get called out on a winter mission.”

“You mean that?” The joy on Metal’s face was genuine.

Trent nodded, “It’s the halfway point of our stay here. And you made a compelling argument about the potential winter mission. Besides, if I don’t get some exercise soon, I’ll leave here ten pounds heavier than I came.”

Metal shrugged, “Now, that wouldn’t be too bad… You are kinda skinny.”

“Am not.” Trent chuckled, “Just because you’re a bit bigger than me, doesn’t make me skinny.”

Metal shrugged, then nodded, “You’re just fine as you are… But it wouldn’t be bad if you gained a bit.”

Trent smiled back.

123123123

Wednesday

“So, you’ll tag along tomorrow?” Metal asked, as he prepared some food to have in his backpack throughout the day in the slopes.

“Yeah.” Metal nodded.

“Cross country or downhill?”

“For training purposes, cross country would probably be best?”

“Probably.” Metal nodded a bit, “We’ll find a nice, comfortable trail.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Metal nodded, “Brad tried to kill me on one of the longest and hardest trails around here this weekend. I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Kill you?”

“Brad’s… He’s fast.” Metal chuckled, “And he spends all winter, every winter, on cross country skis. Ever since I made an east-coaster of myself, I haven’t skied all that much.”

Trent chuckled, “Promise we’ll take it in my tempo tomorrow.”

“Of course.” Metal nodded.

Trent glanced at the giant stack of bread slices Metal had prepared, “You sure you’re gonna have enough to keep you going until dinner?”

“Shut up…” Metal chuckled, “You know how much energy we’re burning the way we ride?”

“A lot, obviously.”

Metal nodded.

Trent studied him for a moment, “Stay safe out there today…”

“-Always.” Metal winked back at him, “-And you don’t have to remind me that every day…”

“I feel better when I do.”

Metal offered up a smile.

123123123

“A few more rides…” Metal agreed, “It’s almost 5p.m. We should think about getting home soon. Grandma and grandpa will start worrying if we don’t.”

“-And your boyfriend.” Jack shrugged,

Jamey agreed.

“No, Trent doesn’t worry that much…” Metal chuckled, “He’s seen me do way worse things than riding down a slope on carving skis.”

“I bet.” Jamey chuckled.

“What’s the most badass thing you’ve done?” Jack asked after a couple of seconds.

“Most badass?” Metal shrugged, “Probably can’t tell you that one… But I have no way of counting how many times he’s seen me jump out of airplanes, or how many times we’ve been under fire together.”

Jack nodded, “Okay, fair.”

Metal nodded as he took another bite of his lunch. “Better finish eating and get back on the lift…”

“Yeah, we better.” Jamey nodded.

123123123

“Damn.”

“Fuck.”

“That looked bad.”

Jack nodded, “We better check on him.”

“Okay, he’s awake…” Jamey swallowed as he saw Metal slam a fist into the hard packed snow he was laying on, “That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded, “Let’s hope he agrees.”

“That was some wipe out…”

“Yeah, I don’t really know what went wrong, do you?”

Jamey shook his head.

“-We should check on him.” Jack repeated.

“Yeah.”

Jack looked over at his brother and slapped a hand against his back, “Today.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Jamey nodded.

“You put something up by the jump, so that we don’t get any flying visitors while helping him, alright?”

“Yeah. I can do that.” Jamey nodded again.

123123123

“Scotty?” Jack swallowed as he skidded to a halt next to his cousin, “That looked painful.”

“Yeah. yeah.” Metal grimaced, “It was. -Is. Can you get my right ski off?”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded.

“Do you need me to get your other ski? It continued down the hill without you.”

“I’m not gonna need it.” Metal bared his teeth, “But if you can get it so we can bring it back home, that would be nice.”

“-You think you’re hurt?”

Metal nodded.

“Where?”

“Knocked the damn air out of me. But that’s getting better.” Metal swallowed, “Pretty sure I broke my right leg though.”

“Yeah?”

Metal nodded.

“Lower? Upper?”

“Lower…” Metal grimaced, “Right where the boot cuts off. Think I twisted my knee as well.”

Jack nodded as Jamey slid in beside Metal.

“Can you get that damn ski off my leg now?”

“Yeah…” Jack nodded and bent down in an attempt to eject the ski from Metal’s boot.

“AI! DON’T!” Metal yelped and tried stabilizing his leg with his hand, but he didn’t reach further than his knee.

“Think we might have to stabilize his leg while we take the ski off.” Jamey swallowed.

“Yeah.” Metal agreed.

“I’m gonna sit with one leg on each side of your leg, I think that’s the best option.”

Metal nodded a bit, as Jack got into position and stabilized Metal’s leg with his own. Jamey helped getting the ski off.

“There, off…” Jack announced, “Jamey, will you ski down to the bottom and get the ski patrol?”

“Yeah.” Jamey nodded, “Need any more help here first?”

“No. Think we’re good.” Jack shrugged, “Right, Scotty?”

“Yeah.” Metal grimaced.

Jamey nodded and headed off.

123123123

“-Hell of a landing you took…” Jack frowned a little while later as he shrugged off his jacket with the plan that his cousin could have it under himself.

“Yeah. Not entirely sure how that happened.” Metal frowned, “My left ski seemed to vanish when I hit the ground, and my right DIDN’T.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what we saw as well.” Jack nodded, “Seemed you landed a bit behind on your skis. Might be the reason your left ejected. And then… Well…”

“Crash.” Metal swallowed,

“Yeah.” Jack nodded, “If you sit up a bit, I can slide this under you. Must be cold laying on the snow.”

“Nah, keep it.” Metal shook his head, making no moves to sit up even just a little.

“I’m free to dance around and do squats if I start getting too cold. You’re kinda forced to stay still. You’re the one that’s gonna freeze and we don’t want that.” Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Besides, I’m pretty sure that medic boyfriend of yours would kick my ass if I let you freeze after hurting yourself.”

Metal chuckled a bit.

“Come on… We don’t know if the ski patrol is out on another call or not.” Jack sighed, “Just humor me, alright?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Bro, I will forcefully lift you up to place this under you…” Jack scowled, I’m not handing out another warning. Your choice.”

“Okay-okay… Fine.” Metal grumbled and pushed up on his elbows, “Only because I don’t want my favorite cousin to get in trouble with my boyfriend.”

“That’s more like it…” Jack grinned and jammed his jacket in under Metal, “How are you feeling?”

“A little nauseous.” Metal admitted as he laid back down, “Probably because I know I fucked up, and because of the pain.”

“Is it bad?”

“The pain?”

Jack nodded.

“I’ve felt worse…”

“Not what I asked.”

“It’s… I’m not looking forward to getting that boot off. That’ll be… Bad.”

Jack nodded, “How does your knee feel? You said you had twisted it or something?”

“Don’t know yet.” Metal shrugged a bit, “Feels like it might be swollen by tonight. Hopefully I just tweaked the shit out of it.”

“Yeah, let’s hope for that…” Jack nodded.

Metal sighed heavily, “Man, this blows.”

“Yeah. It does.” Jack agreed, “But hey… Bet that boyfriend of yours will take good care of you.”

“He’ll probably scold me for being reckless first.”

“Hey, what partner wouldn’t?”

“Chrissy. Back when you two first met.”

“Yeah, but ‘back when we first met’ is crucial in that sentence.” Jack chuckled, “After we had our first kid, she went full protective mama-bear. And that’s the lady who could out-trick BOTH OF US…”

Metal grinned, “Yeah… That little lady of yours really could… Back in the day.”

“Right now I’m pretty sure my five year old could stick a better landing than you.”

“Right now. Yeah. But it’s not a fair match.”

“Who said it had to be?” Jack almost chuckled, “Look, Chrissy planned on inviting you and Trent over tomorrow. But you probably won’t be up for that by then. Think you’d be up for it before you leave for Virginia anyway?”

“Depends…” Metal shrugged a little, “I’m sure my leg is broken, not sure how bad.”

Jack nodded.

“And my knee… No clue about that one…”

“Yeah?”

“But… As long as I just end up with a short leg cast, I think I’ll manage some time next week.” Metal shrugged, “Can’t make any promises though.”

“Hey, worst case scenario, Chrissy will just have to visit you at grandma’s…”

Metal nodded a bit, “Hey, uh… Thanks for the jacket under me, by the way?”

“Starting to notice that the ground is cold?”

“Yeah.” Metal nodded, “I do.”

“Hopefully Jamey and the ski patrol will be here soon.” Jack shrugged, and looked over at his cousin.

“Yeah, let’s hope.” Metal sighed, then chuckled, “Bro, I’m gonna be in so much trouble with Trent when I get home…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Kinda promised I’d be careful.”

“Well, oops…” Jack chuckled a bit, “-I’ll defend you. Say you were careful… Accidents happen anyway, right?”

Metal chuckled, “Yeah, unless you have the best poker face in all of Wyoming, Trent won’t fall for that.”

“Hey, have some faith in me…” Jack winked back as the distant sound of a snowmobile cut through the other sounds of the slope.

123123123

“They should’ve been here by now…” Anne sighed and glanced out the window leading down the road once more. It was a quarter to nine.

“Probably just lost track of time again…”

“Yeah, Christian’s probably right…” Trent nodded, he was more relaxed this time around, “It’s not like the Full Metal, Scott, I know from home in Virginia, but… It’s the third time while being here, so… Guess his siblings and cousins, plus the snow, does something.”

Christian chuckled, “Scotty, or Full Metal as you call him, he was chronically late when he was younger. Always just ‘one more ride’, ‘one more lap’, one more… I swear that kid was the personification of the energizer bunny and time didn’t mean a thing to him…”

“The energizer bunny part makes sense…” Trent chuckled, “But Metal is always the first one to be ready. He’s always early.”

“Well, guess that’s the person he is when he’s a SEAL…” Christian shrugged, “And when he’s here, he’s the same kid who played with the rest of them, just a little bigger and a little older.”

Trent nodded, “I figure so…”

“Chris, I’m worried.” Anne frowned.

“They’re big boys. They can take care of themselves.” Christian shrugged, “Besides, if there had been an avalanche we would have known about it already.”

“Don’t speak that into existence.” Anne shuddered.

“We would have known already. I would have been called out.” Christian reasoned, “And since there hasn’t been one, the boys will be alright.”

“But they can have hurt themselves.”

“If one of them has, it’ll only be one of them, and the two others will surely have gotten him down from the mountain by now.”

“Is it often they get hurt?” Trent swallowed.

“Not uncommon.” Christian shrugged, “They ride hard. But it’s mostly just sprains and bruises they collect. Every now and then someone might break an arm or a wrist, or something. But… That’ll heal as well.”

Trent caught Anne rolling her eyes behind Christian, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Getting hurt still hurts.” Anne frowned, “I don’t like the thought of any of my boys being in pain.”

“I didn’t say they were hurt…” Christian shrugged, “Just that it happens from time to time.”

“Yeah, and I blame you for all of our grandchildren being daredevils. Except for Sarah.”

“Well, you married me…” Christian chuckled, “I think you knew what you were signing up for.”

His short time knowing the pair confirmed that she would have had to know. All of the old stories Christian could tell told him that.

“You’re lucky you’re handsome, and had game back in the day.”

Christian smirked, “You’re saying I’ve lost it?”

“No…” Anne sighed, “No, I can’t say that either.”

Trent chuckled a bit. He hoped to one day have the same sort of relationship with Metal.

“Let’s just…” Christian shrugged, “Turn on the television, find something to watch… They’ll be home eventually.”

Anne nodded a little, “I guess.”

123123123

Trent realized he had fallen asleep when the sound of an engine grew louder. He blinked awake and saw Anne sleeping on the couch, and Christian getting up off the other end of the couch.

He got up of the armchair he had slept in, and glanced at the clock.

“11:30… That’s late…” he whispered, not sure of how soundly Anne slept.

“Yeah. It’s late.” Christian nodded, he didn’t care to whisper. “Later than usual.”

The car parked outside. They both moved to the kitchen.

A few minutes later the entrance door opened, and the trio entered the house.

“Shit, what happened?” Trent winced in sympathy as he saw the crutches Metal was balancing on.

“Had an accident.” Metal grimaced, and hobbled over to lean against the wall while he turned the crutches and collapsed the ice-pricks he needed outside.

“I can see that…” Trent nodded, “Are you okay?”

The two Tanner brothers looked over at their cousin, interested in what his answer would be.

“Well, you’re off the hook for that ski trip tomorrow…” Metal shrugged, as he placed the second crutch down in order to be able to move on his own.

“I figured…” Trent nodded but stopped Metal when he got to where he was. He looked down at his legs. The right one was held a few inches off the ground, Metal had opted out of wearing a shoe on that foot but covered it with a thick knitted sock. The knitted sock looked to be stretched over something, something which in Trent’s eyes resembled a cast. “Can you tell me what happened? And how bad you’re hurt?”

“Can I sit down first?”

Trent nodded, and followed him.

123123123

“So?” Trent eyed his partner’s leg, he was now convinced that a cast was hidden under the knitted sock and pair of sweatpants Metal had changed into before coming back home.

“Broke my leg.” Metal admitted as he helped his leg up on an ottoman in front of one of the chairs, “Tweaked my knee some.”

“How?”

“-I ate snow.” Metal shrugged, “My ski didn’t eject and my leg got banged up because of it.”

“What kind of break was it?”

“The kind where the doctor wanted me to come back in a week to get some hardware…” Metal sighed, “Didn’t want to do it tonight, since I already had eaten a lot throughout the day and since my leg was pretty swollen by the time he was able to take a look at it.”

“Yeah, so… Carter over here isn’t allowed to jump around unnecessarily.” Jack shrugged, “Good luck, everyone living in this house at the moment.”

Trent chuckled a bit, Christian did as well.

“Bro, I really don’t think that’ll be an issue.” Metal smirked, “Not before this thing stops feeling the way it does.”

“You need anything?” Trent offered.

“Icepack for my knee would be nice…” Metal shrugged.

“Do you need one to drape over where the break is as well?”

“No…” Metal shook his head, “Dr. Jacobs placed one there before wrapping the final layer of ace wrap around it, it’s still soothing. Perks of temporary casts I guess.”

Trent nodded, then looked to Christian.

“I’ll help you find it.” Christian nodded before they walked off.

123123123

They all decided that they wouldn’t wake Anne up, just to tell her what had happened. Instead Metal wrote a note they placed in front of her on the table, telling her that they had gotten home, and that he had broken his leg so he’d be on crutches for the rest of their stay. Then Jack and Jamey had left, and the three men left in the house figured it was time to turn in as well.

123123123

“I can go sleep on the other end of the couch…” Trent offered as he’d helped Metal get his leg settled on a large pillow.

“No… You’re going to sleep here, next to me.”

“But… What if I bump into you?”

“I’ll take my chances.” Metal shrugged, and patted the free area next to him.

Trent crawled in next to him, careful about his movements in case the bed would shift enough under his weight to cause Metal pain.

“Relax, will you?” Metal chuckled.

Trent was just as careful when he laid down on his side and watched Metal, “How did it happen?”

“Think I told you already…”

“Details.”

“I came down from this jump.” Metal glanced over to watch Trent’s reaction, “My left ski ejected because I landed with my weight over the back of my skis, I guess. I fell. My right ski did not eject even as I rolled. My leg got hurt.”

Trent nodded a little, reached out and placed a hand over Metal’s abdomen, “I told you to be careful.”

“-I thought I was…”

“-I believe you.” Trent nodded, “Your grandparents like telling stories.”

Metal smiled a little, “Yeah… I was careful compared to how I could’ve been.”

Trent nodded again.


	23. Wyoming pt.II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I neglected this for a while. Sorry.

Metal was already awake when he woke up the next morning. Awake, but he hadn’t moved.

“Morning…” he smiled as soon as he noticed Trent was awake.

“Good morning.” Trent smiled back, he’d fallen asleep on Metal’s shoulder. He was still in the position he’d fallen asleep in. “Did you get any sleep?”

“Yeah, plenty.” Metal winked.

“How’s your leg?”

“Broken.” Metal shrugged, “Hurts, but not too much when I don’t move it.”

Trent nodded, “And your knee?”

“Feels like it might be a bit swollen, but on a positive note, I think my ankle ain’t that swollen right now. It was pressing a lot when we went to bed last night.”

“Yeah, your ankle probably swelled up because you didn’t keep that leg up enough after injuring it.” Trent shrugged a little.

“Yeah. Figured so.” Metal nodded and rubbed at his right thigh, “What do you think about having a couch day?”

“I think you won’t be up for anything else…” Trent winked and moved his hand from Metal’s waist and up to his chest.

Metal nodded a bit, “You know… Grandma came in to check on me a couple hours ago?”

Trent blushed a bit, “Yeah?”

“Yeah…” Metal chuckled, “She thought we looked adorable. She might have taken a photo or two…”

“Yeah?”

Metal nodded, “Grandma loves taking pictures. You might’ve noticed already.”

Trent nodded, “Yeah, the walls are filled with photographs, and she has a massive bookshelf worth of photo albums…”

Metal nodded, “Has she shown you any yet?”

“Maybe…” Trent grinned.

“Not the baby albums I hope…” Metal almost grimaced.

“One of them at least.”

“Was it the one with the chair in it?”

“The one where you’ve climbed inside the frame and are trying to stand up?” Trent chuckled, “You were really angry, it looked like.”

“Aw naw…” Metal laughed a bit, “There are so many embarrassing photos in that thing…”

“You were a toddler, what’s embarrassing about that?”

“That chair based temper tantrum, for example.” Metal chuckled, “There’s also that picture where I’m sitting in the dog’s water bowl.”

“Adorable.” Trent smiled and squeezed himself tighter to Metal’s chest.

“No… I was a stupid kid.”

“You were a toddler.” Trent chuckled, “It’s not like you’re still eating crayons.”

“No, we leave that to the marines…” Metal chuckled.

“You were a really cute kid.” Trent chuckled back, “And you’ve grown into a really handsome man. But now that I’ve seen the kid version of you, I realize you haven’t changed that much.”

“I hoped I had.”

“You’re taller, heavier, stronger.” Trent shrugged, “A bit more experienced, therefore smarter.”

Metal chuckled, “I guess.”

“Do you want to get up soon?”

“It’s kinda nice just laying here…” Metal shrugged, “But we probably should get up soon.”

Trent nodded and let his hand travel back down to Metal’s abdomen. “So, did you have a nice day yesterday? Before you got injured.”

“One of the best.” Metal grinned back, “Bluebird skies, nice depth of powder outside the prepped slopes. Good riding buddies. Just a few degrees above zero, cold enough to really bite. It was perfect.”

“Well, it was perfectly comfortable inside the house as well.” Trent tilted his head a little.

“I didn’t claim it was comfortable out there…” Metal shrugged, “I said it was perfect. Perfect can be both cold and painful.”

“I disagree on a cellular level.” Trent chuckled, “Speaking of cold… Do you need new ice packs?”

“Once I start moving, yeah.” Metal admitted, “Right now I don’t _need_ it, but it would be a welcomed relief.”

“You want me to go get a pair for you before you start your day?”

“Can you?”

“Of course…”

123123123

“Oh, you’re up…” Anne grinned as Trent entered the kitchen to find one of the ice packs from the freezer.

“-Yeah…” Trent nodded, “Offered to find a couple fresh ice packs for Metal.”

Anne nodded, “How is he?”

“Thought you had checked up on him while I was still asleep…”

“Honey… I’m his grandma… He’s sugarcoating it when telling me.”

Trent nodded a little, “He says it’s not too bad when he’s laying still. -But I still think he’s in a lot of pain. I mean, he didn’t try to stall me when I offered getting these…”

Trent held up two reusable ice packs filled with blue frozen liquid.

Anne nodded, “I’m making some breakfast-lunch hybrid soon. Anything in particular you want?”

“Everything you make tastes amazing, go with one of Metal’s favorites if you can…” Trent shrugged, “He probably could use a pick-me-up…”

Anne nodded, glanced at her watch and nodded, “Give me 45 minutes… I’ll make sure Scotty gets a good breakfast.”

“-Thank you.” Trent smiled, “I better get back to him with these…”

Anne nodded, “Do you want to keep track of time by yourself, or do you want me to come knock at your door when it’s about done.”

“I might actually fall asleep, so I’m not going to decline the offer of being notified.”

123123123

He carefully sat down on Metal’s side of the bed, “Do you want me to change the one by the break or at your knee first?”

“By the break.” Metal shrugged, and watched as Trent lifted away the blankets which had kept them warm during the night.

Trent slid one hand in below the cast which covered Metal’s lower leg. He didn’t miss the grimace which fluttered across Metal’s face.

“I’m sorry.”

Metal put on a brave face, “Don’t worry about it…”

Trent nodded a little and placed Metal’s lower leg on top of his own thigh, then he glanced up at Metal to make sure he didn’t look like he was about to pass out. Then he started unwrapping the extra bandage which held the old ice pack.

“Ah… That’s nice…” Metal sighed as Trent placed the frozen ice pack gently along his shin.

“Yeah?”

Metal nodded a little, “Yeah. Soothing. That’s real nice.”

Trent nodded as he wrapped the extra bandage around the middle of Metal’s shin once more. Then he untied the bandana which held the second ice pack against the hand towel around Metal’s knee.

Trent whistled a little as he uncovered Metal’s knee, “That’s… Colorful.”

“Yeah.” Metal frowned, “Think it’s mostly the break which caused all of that bruising. You should’ve seen it by the time we got to the hospital yesterday, I had a nasty bump right where the break was.”

Trent nodded a little as he studied Metal’s face.

“Looked better once the doctor set it.” Metal shrugged, “But there was a good deal of damage to the surrounding tissues.”

Trent nodded a little, as he draped the towel back over Metal’s knee. He didn’t want to put the ice pack directly against Metal’s skin. Then, after he’d placed the ice pack, he tied it in place with the bandana the last one had been tied in place with. “Do you want to have your leg back up on that pillow?”

“Weren’t we about to get up?”

“Anne offered to come knock on the door when breakfast was ready, or when it was almost ready... We can rest until then.”

“Yeah?” Metal grinned, “We can?”

Trent nodded. “So, do you want your leg back on that pillow?”

Metal nodded a little, “I’d also like you in the position you slept in tonight…”

Trent nodded as he helped Metal place his leg on the large pillow again. After that, he cuddled up next to Metal’s left side.

“I’ve got a feeling the next week or two here will be just alright, even if all I can do is to sit around.” Metal smiled and wrapped an arm around Trent’s shoulder.

“You really think so?” Trent asked, “You’re one of the worst patients around. You can barely sit still to save your life, well… unless you’re in a sniper position.”

“You really don’t have that much faith in me, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you, it’s that I know you pretty well…”

Metal chuckled and raised his hand in order to tousle through Trent’s hair.

123123123

The pain hadn’t been entirely awful when he laid still. But getting dressed and hobbling over to the kitchen hurt enough to erase any appetite he had.

He had planned on eating breakfast with his grandma and Trent, but not having his leg up on an actual mountain of pillows hurt too much. -And Trent had caught onto it.

“Your leg’s hurting…”

“No news there…” Metal ground out.

“No, but you’ve turned pale since you got out of bed…”

Metal shrugged a bit.

“Scotty…” Anne shrugged a bit. “If you’re in as much pain as it looks like, you should either go back to bed where you’re comfortable, or Trent and I could help you make a nest on the couch or in one of the chairs.”

Metal frowned, but knew he didn’t have much of a choice.

“So, what’s it gonna be?” Trent shrugged, “Bed or living room.”

“Living room…” Metal sighed with defeat.

“Let’s get you settled there then, and we can bring some food out for you when you feel up for it.”

“Sounds good.” Metal nodded a bit, then studied his own leg for a second.

“Can I help you up?”

“-You can help my leg down?” he shrugged, “Pretty sure I can get up on my own once my leg is down from this stool.”

“Sure…” Trent nodded as he hunched down next to Metal’s leg, “Is it the break or the knee which hurts worst right now.”

“Break has the sharpest pain…” Metal swallowed, “But the knee is really sore and stiff.”

“Is it okay if I hold your leg like this?”

Metal nodded.

Ten minutes later, Metal was situated in the living room. He sat in the corner of the couch, with his leg elevated on about half of the pillows the room offered.

Not long after that, he felt alright enough to start eating breakfast. And it warmed his heart that both his grandma and Trent decided to move into the living room as well. Eating alone was never as fun as eating with people you love. 


	24. Bar and darts

Metal sipped his beer as he watched Trent play darts against Sonny. He’d be playing as well, if his right arm hadn’t been stuck in a sling at the moment.

“Oh, almost!” He called out as the dart hit 20 points, just a few millimeters away from the triple circle.

“Better adjust your aim there, Sawyer…” Sonny chuckled.

“Well, gotta give you a chance to catch up.” Trent twisted around with a smirk, then he walked over to the table and took a sip of beer as well.

Sonny scoffed and threw a dart. He hit the triple ring, but on the sector connected to 3 points.

“Nine… Nice.” Metal chuckled, “What did you just say about adjusting aim?”

“Shut up…” Sonny shot back.

Metal grinned and moved the strap hanging over his left shoulder.

Trent smirked and stepped over to where they were throwing from and threw another dart.

“Another 20…” Metal nodded approvingly.

Sonny threw another one, 12 points.

“You’re really in a drought, aren’t you?” Metal smirked, shooting Clay a look.

“Yeah, you’re really not looking good right now Sonny…”

“Well, Goldilocks… Nobody asked for your opinion…”

Both Metal and Clay chuckled.

Trent hit the triple circle of the 20 with his last dart.

“Aw, for fffff…” Sonny sighed and threw his last as well. Hitting 8 points.

“Thanks for the game…” Trent chuckled, “Maybe you’ll do better against Clay…”

“No, I want a rematch.”

“Later. I want to sit down and drink for a bit.” Trent chuckled, “Maybe order some fries or something.”

Sonny almost rolled his eyes, then he looked over at Clay.

“Yeah, wanna place money on it?” Clay asked

123123123

He almost choked on his beer as Trent’s hand found his thigh under the table.

Trent smirked at him.

Metal grinned.

“Is that thing cutting into your neck and shoulder?”

“Not that much…”

“And the injured shoulder?”

“Sore, swollen and itches.” Metal sighed, “Might head home early tonight, I plan to have a hot date with an ice pack.”

“The stitches itches, or?”

“Yeah.” Metal nodded, “Takes willpower not to scratch at it…”

“You better not…”

“I know.” Metal nodded, “I plan on finishing up this bottle, then head home.”

“Want me to come over?”

“I’ll probably fall asleep not long after coming home, so don’t hang around playing dart forever, deal?”

Trent nodded.


End file.
